


The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow

by PrairieSchooner



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-08-15 09:42:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 43,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8051464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrairieSchooner/pseuds/PrairieSchooner
Summary: It was supposed to be a quiet weekend, everyone had their own plans. So how could a Friday morning call from Governor Denning, effectively sending the team to Mau'i to save the Hawaiian economy, turn into a race against time to save one of their own?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It was suggested to me that I should post this story on AO3. It was written and posted on FF over a year ago, and some of you may remember it. I'm a slow writer, primarily because I like my work to be the best I can possibly make it before sharing it with anyone...including a Beta! I will post regularly, and remember, it's been on FF for a year so it is certainly a complete story. My handle on FF is jlopie1, some of you may know me as that crazy rancherwoman. I don't know why I have that nickname?!
> 
> There is also a brand new story, awaiting publication, as well! That one is totally different from this one and will be forthcoming shortly!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own them yet...still working on it, though!

PROLOGUE

 

Friday, 4:30pm – Haleakala Crater, Mau'i, Hawai'i

 

"How did this happen? How, exactly, could this happen?"

Shocked beyond words by the events that found him bent over his prostrate partner on the hard packed, red dirt floor, of a rain and wind warped wooden shed. Pressing his tee shirt deeply into the gaping wounds in Danny's side, Steve tried to control his own emotions and allow his ingrained training to take over. He had to stop the bleeding. The green tee shirt was already soaked through with Danny's blood.

"Steve? Steve!"

He looked up from his attempts at first aid, and saw two frightened blue eyes boring into his own, as if pleading with him to tell him it was all a mistake, and he was fine.

"Danny! Its okay, man, I've got you. You got tossed pretty hard, and there's a little bit of bleeding. I'll get it stopped soon then I'll call for help." Steve knew he was lying through his teeth. It was bad. He'd never seen such jagged wounds outside of Afghanistan, and he didn't have anything to really alleviate the bleeding, other than his dirty shirt. But he couldn't let Danny see his fear, because Danny could read him so well, and he'd know. He just couldn't bear to hear Danny beg him to tell Grace her Danno loved her yet again. So, God help him, he lied to his best friend.

At least, it seemed to calm his partner down. Unfortunately, Steve realized too late, Danny was lapsing into shock instead of calm.

"Oh! Fine then…I think I'll just lay here and rest a bit. I'm … I'm kind of tired." The initial excruciating pain radiating from his side in all directions was now devolving into a sweet sensation of numbness that, coupled with Steve's soothing words, lulled Danny into thinking he wasn't so badly hurt after all. Somewhere deep in his brain, Danny knew that was just not true, he really was in a bad way, but he just didn't have the strength now to worry about it. He couldn't figure out how this had happened to him, either! He just didn't seem to catch any breaks. Fine! It was much easier to just float away. Just for a while. Just … until he got his strength back…

"Danny! Come on, buddy! Stay with me, man!"

Steve felt, rather than saw, Danny slip into unconsciousness. He was still pressing hard on the wounds and he thought he was making progress getting the bleeding stopped - or at least under control. He sensed Danny's body relaxing, going slack under his pressure, and heard his breathing become more shallow and erratic. Not good signs at all.

"No! No, no, don't do this to me, Danny!" Steve pulled out his phone and attempted to call for help. Nothing but silence greeted him. "Mother Fucker!" Looking down, Steve realized with a curse that he had actually found a place on the island with no cell service. Desperation started to set in. He needed to get Danny medical help, and he couldn't do that from a field in the middle of nowhere.

Taking Danny's clammy hand in his own bloodied one, Steve bent down to Danny's ear, and putting his other hand on his friend's forehead for comfort – although he wasn't sure if he was comforting Danny or himself – he calmly spoke to his partner.

"Hey, D., I need to find us some help here. Think you can stay put and out of trouble for me? I promise I'll be back with a nice, warm blanket, and a pretty EMT to take care of you. Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Getting no response, and not really expecting one, Steve tried to make Danny as comfortable as possible. He piled some straw under his head, and around his body, to help keep Danny's temperature from falling too low. Feeling around on the straw-strewn ground until he found what he was looking for, Steve shoved Danny's gun into the waistband of his partner's pants – just in case. Patting his best friend's cheek, and praying he could find help sooner rather than later, Steve took off on a jog across the pasture towards the path leading back down the mountain side.

Once again, he asked himself how they could have possibly ended up here, alone in a remote summer pasture in the middle of Maui, with Danny fighting for his life. The day had certainly started off very different!


	2. Chapter 2

**Friday, 8:15am – Five-0 Headquarters, Honolulu, Oah'u**

Danny waltzed into the office humming a Springsteen tune, and packing takeout from his latest breakfast eatery, Eggs 'n Things. He was in a great mood! It was Friday, after all, and he had nothing planned for the weekend but to put his feet up on his coffee table, watch the Giants play a little football, while polishing off a twelve-pack of Longboards, and hoping - well perhaps "worrying" would be a better choice of words – that Gracie did not have too good a time visiting with her mom, Stan and Charlie in Las Vegas.

"G'mornin' kids," was the salutation that greeted Kono and Fong, who were deep into a discussion over the newest facial recognition software in the works for HPD. They looked up to see the compact and vibrant detective saunter down the hall to his office.

"Why is Danny in such a good mood at this hour of the day?" Charlie demanded to know.

"Since Steve is scheduled to lead a weekend Navy SEAL training exercise and Danny knows he'll be off the island and out of his hair for two and a half days!" Chin laughingly replied as he walked around the corner into the main think tank of Five-0 headquarters.

Kono snorted and then hushed Charlie as he loudly guffawed! The cousins smiled at each other as if they had a secret. But it was a well known fact among the teammates that as much time as the partners spent together each week, they required at least a small vacation apart on a regular basis to reboot. For the last few months, though, it seemed to Kono as if the two bosses were spending less time together than ever. But today, at least, everyone was in a good mood.

With delighted anticipation, Danny sat down at his desk and opened the box containing his Loco Moco. Steam rose from the double scoops of rice with a humongous burger sitting in the middle, smothered in homemade gravy and topped with two fried eggs. He was in culinary heaven! Nothing could ruin this moment!

So he thought! Just as he raised his fork for the first bite, the door to his office blew open and a barrel of energy barged in to stop in his tracks in front of the desk.

Steve leaned over and sniffed expectantly at Danny's plate, "Is that Loco Moco?"

Danny suspiciously eyed his partner, "Obviously correct. Now, go away and let me enjoy this."

"Is it from Rainbow Diner?" Steve asked, eagerly pulling up the spare chair to the desk.

"No?" Danny replied, wondering what was coming next from his too pleased friend, "it's from Eggs 'n Things."

"Oh, man, nothing is better than Loco Moco from Rainbow!" Steve rhapsodized, "There's this secret ingredient in their gravy that's literally to die for…"

"Really, Steven?" Danny harrumphed while pulling the Styrofoam plate closer in. "Then why don't you head over to Rainbow and die for your own plate?"

"Why are you so grumpy? It's only eight in the morning." Steve eyed his partner, frowning at the man's short-tempered bristling.

Picking up his fork and preparing to dig in to his breakfast, Danny ground out a quick response, "Grumpy? You ask me why I'm grumpy? I'm not grumpy. At least I wasn't until 2 minutes ago when you stormed into my office and dissed my Loco Moco."

With a nonchalant frown, and a quick shrug, an obviously unapologetic Steve uttered a half-hearted "Sorry," before continuing brightly, "Got an extra fork? I think I should try this one, and see how it compares to Rainbow's."

Looking up from his plate, Danny was flabbergasted to see that Steve was literally licking his lips! Sighing loudly and deeply, while reaching into the middle drawer of his desk, he pulled out a second fork, tossed it in Steve's direction, and the partners settled in to enjoy their shared breakfast.

 

                                                                                                                                        H50H50H50H50H50H50

 

Danny, Kono, and Chin were standing over the computer table later in the morning, looking at DMV records in an attempt to identify members of a stolen car ring working out of the Kahala area. It was actually painless work, thanks to the new facial recognition software installed on the smart desk just that morning. The latest identification tool eliminated the need to stare for hours at video taken from security cameras on the private grounds that the cars were stolen from. The new program did it all for them. Although it was important work, it was not a current high priority, and the teammates were simply biding their time until the weekend could begin.

Kono was the first to look up as Steve entered the main office through the double glass doors.

"Hey, Boss! How's our favorite governor? Did he give us free tickets to the Governor's Ball coming up?" She smirked as an incredibly pained look came over Chin's face. He never enjoyed dressing up and rubbing shoulders with the politicians and wealthy businessmen that frequented such functions. Occasionally, the Five-0 team was obligated to appear at special affairs of the State of Hawaii to keep up good relations with the State's highest-ranking brass. Chin always felt as if he were on display. It was a most uncomfortable feeling for the very private police lieutenant.

"Please tell me that's not what Governor Denning wanted to see you about, Steve."

Steve notice the slight panic in Chin's voice and considered letting him fret a while longer, but quickly decided he didn't deserve that. If it had been Danny, on the other hand, he would have enjoyed playing the game.

"No, you guys are off the hook for that, but we do have a new case. What do you guys know about cows?"

Their look of complete bafflement was duly noted by their boss. Steve smugly grinned, folding his arms in front of himself, and vowing to remember this as the one time he completely succeeded in confounding and rendering his team – and more spectacularly his partner – speechless. He continued to savor the moment a few seconds longer, until Danny finally came to life.

"Do you mean Bovine? As in milk, or beef? As in cows, bulls, steers, or heifers? Feed lots, production herds, dairy farms or packing plants?"

As Danny rattled on, Steve's face turned from a smug grin to a disgruntled scowl, and finally settled into a definitely irritated frown.

"What would a 'New Jersey born and bred, give me the big city skyscrapers any day Joe' know about cows?" Steve sputtered as his face turned a bright shade of pink from the sudden turn of the tide. Kono and Chin both bravely attempted to wipe their enjoyment of this current situation off their faces just as Steve turned on them.

"You think this is funny? Steve bellowed. "Do YOU two know the difference between a steer and a heifer?"

For all her street smarts and worldly ways, Kono still managed to turn an embarrassing shade of red as she stammered, "Um…"

Danny came to her rescue just in time. Winking at Kono, and with just the right amount of sarcasm used to irritate his partner further, Danny got in the zinger, "Oh for crying out loud, Steve, don't tell me you didn't know the difference between a steer and a heifer and you had to Google it!"

Steve's irked silence, followed by a peevish shrug of his shoulders, was all it took to wreak havoc on the funny bones of the team. It was obvious to all that Danny had won that round.

 

                                                                                                                                                             H50H50H50H50

 

The four teammates sat in Steve's office a short time later, attempting to fathom what the Governor had just dumped in their laps on a Friday, of all days! Kono was draped over one end of the couch, her miles-long legs hanging loosely over the side of the padded leather arm. Chin leaned comfortably against the glass door, stoically resigned to whatever was to come. They had cancelled their weekend plans and were prepared to attack the incongruous circumstance that Governor Denning had deemed at the top of Five-0's priority list.

"Let me see if I have this straight," Danny spat out, "Denning wants us to check out a livestock shipping facility on the docks because the workers reported a "down" cow. Please explain to me how this is a job for Five-0? Did we get demoted to animal control, and someone forget to tell us?"

Steve could tell that his partner was angry. Well, that was putting it mildly. His partner was sitting straight and as tall as his stature allowed, in the far corner of the couch. His legs were crossed with his hands clenched in his lap, white knuckles practically glowing while his blue eyes were wide open under incredibly arched brows. Danny Williams was seconds shy of blowing a proverbial gasket. Laying his arms on his desk in supplication, Steve attempted to placate his obviously agitated partner, "Danny, the Governor is trying to avoid an economic disaster. All livestock facilities nationwide are required to inform the USDA if they find a cow unable to stand on her own feet in their facility. A necropsy needs to be performed to look for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in the cow's brain, and start the search for point of origin..."

"Hold it right there, Mr. Science Guy! English, please?" begged Danny.

Kono - untangling her legs, and sitting up straighter on the couch - piped up, "Mad Cow Disease, Danny."

Danny's querulous expression changed dramatically to one of disbelief. Giving Kono a frown, he turned his full attention back to his partner, "Mad Cow Disease? You have got to be kidding me. Isn't that contagious, like rabies, or something? Denning wants us to check out a sick cow that could spread a deadly disease … to us?"

"Danny," Steve tried to head off the predictable rant, but Danny cut Steve's attempt at placating him off at the quick.

"Nope. Not going to happen. I'm not going to do it, and there is nothing you can say to change my mind, Steven." Arms were flying through the air as Danny emphatically drove his decision home. He slapped his hands on his knees and stood up, preparing to leave the office and head out for his quiet, uneventful weekend at home. Alone. Steve gave him his lopsided little grin, and pulled his ace out of the deck.

"Are you sure about that? Because this shipping facility is on Maui, and in all likelihood, there will be an overnight or two on everyone's second favorite Hawaiian island!"


	3. Chapter 3

Friday, 10:30am - Honolua Bay Road, Mau'i

Alejandro Montoya comfortably lounged on his lanai overlooking the turquoise blue waters lapping at the rocky outcropping below. Although it was a little early in the day for cocktails, the native Argentinean sipped contentedly on his Dirty Martini, complacent thoughts of how he would soon be the most sought after smuggler on the islands flooding his mind. He finally had it made! He had been working his way up the ladder for a very long time, and the stage was set to rise to the top of the business. All he needed was the phone call to tell him that his plan to make himself indispensible to the overlords was in motion. As if on command, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Hola. Is it done?"

Smugly, Alejandro raised his glass to his mouth for another sip, but his arm stopped half way there as he listened to the voice coming through the phone. Dark, angry eyes stood out in stark contrast as his face paled, and then turned a dangerous shade of red. His shaking hand precisely set the martini glass down solidly on the small drink table beside his lounger.

Such was the end of his happy mood! Shouting with almost uncontained ire, Alejandro verbally pummeled the unlucky recipient on the other end of the phone. "How is this possible? You assured me there would be no chance of this happening! Fix it! Or YOU won't have any legs left to stand on!"

One arching swipe of his hand swept the glass, stuffed olive and all, over the side of the lanai to shatter on the rocks below.

H50H50H50

By early Friday afternoon, Kamekona and his helicopter had deposited the Five-0 team at the Kahului Airport on Maui. He was scheduled to make a return trip the next morning to pick them up.

"Enjoy your visit, but don't waste your time on the shrimp trucks! No way they can have better shrimp than me," Kamekona good naturedly waved his good-byes as he nimbly took off and headed his bird back to Oahu for another island circle tour with actual paying customers on board.

"Yeah, yeah…so you say, big guy." Danny was just relieved to have gotten out of that contraption in one piece, yet again. He figured his luck would run out one of these island-hopping trips across the open ocean, and he breathed a silent prayer of thanksgiving for forestalling the inevitable a while longer.

Although Steve gave him a quizzical look, not understanding why Danny seemed so shaky after a perfectly normal flight, he let it slide as the new case took precedence over his thoughts. Steve focused on the young man standing to the side in the hot sun with his arm outstretched in greeting.

The official looking, yet nervous appearing assistant Hawaii State veterinarian was waiting on the helipad to take the four teammates to the Department of Livestock offices headquartered on the island. As the foursome walked towards him, the young Hawaiian started gushing with a suspiciously familiar enthusiasm.

"Welcome to Maui, Commander McGarrett, my name is Pilipo Nagahara. I am the veterinarian in charge of this case. It is such an honor to meet you and your illustrious team, your reputation precedes you. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance, no matter how small, in your investigation!"

Looking over at his team, Steve noted the Zen-like façade of Chin Ho cracking just a little. Kono's eyebrows were raised in surprise, and Danny had that look on his face. The one he got just before he was about to blurt out some snarky comment – squinty eyes, mouth partially opened with a tiny half grin before the telltale snap of the jaw to coincide with the slight nod of the head and pursing of the lips.

This current encounter was obviously bringing back recent memories for the whole team, of a past meeting between an enamored associate, and a well known television host. A small little smirk attached itself to Steve's face. He promised himself to check if this Dr. Nagahara had any familial ties to a certain medical examiner they all knew so well!

By stopping to catch his breath after his "speed welcome," Dr. Nagahara gave Steve the opening he needed, and Steve jumped at the opportunity to get a word in edgewise. "Uh, thank you, Dr. Nagahara. It's a pleasure to meet you, too. This is Detective Danny Williams, Lt. Chin Ho Kelly, and Officer Kono Kalakaua. What can you tell us about this sick cow?"

Pilipo nodded, suddenly all business. "Yes, of course, Commander. This morning, a shipment of heifers arrived at the holding corrals from Haleakala Ranch at the center of the island. They have been raised organically, and were set to be transported by cargo ship to Los Angeles today."

Danny leaned over and said, with a stage whisper in Steve's direction, "FYI, heifers are cows that haven't had their first calf yet, cowboy." Steve attempted to ignore his partner's wisecrack, but finally accepting that Danny wasn't going to stop staring at him until he said something, whispered back, "I know that, Danny!"

"Uh, huh, because you took Animal Science 101 at that Army school, right?"

Chin chuckled. "Oh, Danny, You just can't let it go, can you, Brah?"

"What," shaking his head in feigned disgust Danny addressed his question to Chin, while keeping his gaze fastened on his partner, looking for an expected reaction. "Have you been watching "Frozen" with Grace, too?"

Without showing an ounce of the chagrin that was building internally, ("Gracie promised she wouldn't tell Danny I watched Frozen with her last weekend!") while directing his attention back to Pilipo, Steve ignored his smirking team mates, slightly turned his body away from Danny, and blandly addressed the waiting veterinarian. "Please continue, Doctor."

Yep. There it was, because he knew just how to twist the knife to get the extremely subtle body language tells off of his brother. Danny happily chalked another notch in his "win" column for the day. He was suddenly in a much better mood.

"Yes, certainly." The young, wiry Hawaiian, oblivious to the recent repartee between the closely bonded team, pulled the Suburban they were riding in up to the livestock office. The state owned building was certainly not as impressive as the Iolani Palace on Oahu, but it was a substantial structure, built within the same time period in the early 1880's as the Palace. It had a charming, low slung wooden façade, topped with a wide, sloped roof to shed rain water from the daily five-minute-long downpours, and sported a shaded veranda in the front for protection from the rest of the day's heat.

Escorting the team towards the building's refreshingly cool interior, Pilipo continued with his report. "When the cows were unloaded from the trucks, the Paniolo rode through the holding pens to check for any problems. They came across a cow lying down with her legs splayed out. When they tried to get her up, she couldn't get her legs under her body. Her head lolled from side to side, and she aggressively tried to butt her head against anyone coming near her. The cow rapidly deteriorated and died a short time later. It appeared that the cow was showing signs of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, and the proper protocols were set in place."

"Protocols?" Danny noticeably perked up. He understood the use of protocols in police work – something he was still attempting to ingrain in his partner's brain even after four years of working together. "What sort of protocols?"

"Well, Detective," Pilipo spoke directly to Danny, "as you are perhaps aware, there have been a small number of cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as BSE or Mad Cow disease, documented on the mainland in recent years. These cases have caused quite a scare that the human food chain could become contaminated with the protein causing the neurological disorder that can be passed on to humans. The human form of the disease is very similar to rabies. Although the threat is negligent, the federal government has established protocols to limit the possibility of contamination, as well as control the fear of an outbreak of the disease. Upon confirmation of the disease, an extensive search for the origin of the stricken animal is immediately undertaken in order to identify the country, and even the ranch where the animal was born and raised. The feed given to the livestock where the diseased cow was housed is checked for biologic ingredients, such as ground bone, which is a sure means of transmitting BSE, and attempts are made to document every location the diseased cow was housed at along its journey. The disease can take two to eight years to present, and will run its course, always a fatal outcome, within six months. Livestock is shipped around frequently, so it is very difficult to pin down exactly where a cow might have picked up the BSE protein."

Kono frowned. "So, do you know where this cow came from? Did she come from the mainland, or was she born on Maui?" Kono was quick to catch on to the fact that if the cow was born and raised on the island, and she was indeed found to be infected with the disease, it could lead to catastrophic consequences for the cattle industry on Hawaii. In all likelihood, a moratorium on shipping beef cattle to and from the mainland, or any other country would take effect immediately, and last until the origin of the disease on the islands was discovered and eradicated. Significant numbers of cattle that possibly had come in contact with the diseased cow, or her environment, would have to be destroyed. The loss would be devastating. The economic impact for the livestock sector on the islands would be overwhelming.

Steve had also caught on to the significance of the problem of the sick cow. If this cow truly had BSE, Governor Denning would need to put a lid on the problem as quickly as possible. There might not actually have been a crime committed, but the governor would want his best people helping to investigate where the diseased cow came from. It was possible some sort of a cover up might occur if a less than scrupulous rancher did not want his cattle production destroyed. Five-0 and the state livestock commission needed to get to the bottom of this problem, now.

"Where are you in regards to verification?" Chin quietly asked.

Pilipo smiled primly. These Five-0 people were good! He could virtually see the wheels turning. They had already processed the situation, realized the ramifications, and were ready for action! He felt just a little intimidated by their intensity, though. Pilipo had never had a reason, to date, to work with such a group of law enforcers, and he wondered if he was up to the challenge. The commander had fixed his intense gaze on Pilipo, and his whole body language - standing ramrod straight, legs akimbo, his arms crossed over his chest, focusing on every word - indicated to everyone within view that Commander McGarrett would accept nothing less than a successful outcome of the case. Even though the blond detective appeared to be a little sick at the whole idea of a Mad Cow disease outbreak, he appeared to be just as focused on the situation at hand as his three team members. Pilipo certainly hoped he didn't let the team down with his part of the investigation!

Clearing his throat and gesturing towards the stairs, Pilipo led the Five-0 team towards the basement of the rambling building. "Well, now that you have arrived, Commander, we can proceed with the necropsy and see exactly what we have. Let's move to the lab. My assistants should be ready for us."

"This should be fun!" Kono whispered to Danny and Chin with a twinkle in her eye.

Noticing the determined stride of his partner towards the necropsy lab, Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he agreed. "I can't wait for the fun to begin."


	4. Chapter 4

Friday, 12:45pm – Hawai'i State Livestock Commission Headquarters, Mau'i precinct

Ayden Aikau observed the arrival of the State Livestock suburban from his perch on the wooden corral fence set to one side of the livestock building, with a bored frown. The nineteen year old wrangler had more important things to worry about today than a truck load of tourists arriving for a tour of the facilities! How did that cow get sick, that's what he needed to find out? His livelihood – and he understood that to mean his life – depended on discovering what had happened to the cow.

Thus lost in thought, Ayden just managed to look up in time to watch the four individuals pour out from the truck. He squinted from the sun, but also from confusion as he realized the four "tourists" were nothing of the sort. Badges flashed in the bright mid day sun, while service weapons were in plain view at each person's hip.

The first person out of the truck was breath-takingly lovely. An incredibly tall and slender Asian woman, dressed in beige skin tight jeans, a flowing black tank top and combat boots, unfolded herself, stretched, and smiled warmly at something Dr. Nagahara said. Ayden literally had to force his gaze away from the beauty to scout out the rest of the procession.

The three men were an odd assortment – the first being a lean, stoic-looking Asian in a vintage aloha shirt and blue jeans. He appeared to be the oldest, but he walked with an easy, gentle stride, keeping pace with the gorgeous woman. Next in the procession was a hairdo that had Ayden staring in amazement. The blond guy with the perfectly coifed pompadour, although short and solid, walked across the yard with a natural swagger. Arms, bared to the elbow from the rolled-up sleeves of a button-down, powder blue, dress shirt, chopped the air with a swing that indicated a no-nonsense resolve to get the job done. The last man out of the truck, attired in a forest green tee shirt and tan cargo pants, with sailor tattoos on his biceps, sent a chill up Ayden's spine. He knew who this guy was, having seen him on KITV News standing alongside the governor on more than one occasion, usually after a major drug bust or favorable kidnapping conclusion. Ayden knew nothing good was going to come from him being at the livestock yards today. He also knew he needed to find out what their appearance was all about.

Jumping off the five-slatted, six-foot high weathered wooden corral panel, Ayden feigned disinterest as he sauntered across the dusty yard, even though he kept his ears open to catch any phrase uttered by the group ahead of him. Just as he unfortunately expected, Ayden quickly picked up the fact that not just the head of the Governor's major crimes task force, Five-0, was walking into the livestock building, but he'd brought along the rest of his elite team as well!

Following the group into the reception area, Ayden heard enough of the conversation between the veterinarian and the Five-0 team to know he was going to have to place another unpleasant phone call to the boss man. As he began to turn down a side corridor away from the group, Dr. Nagahara, holding the door to the basement stairwell open for his four guests to enter through, called out to him.

"Ayden! Stick around awhile. I'm sure Commander McGarrett would like to ask you a few questions about that cow you brought in to the shipping yards this morning."

Trying to backpedal away from the intense gaze of four sets of eyes directed his way, Ayden attempted to brush off his involvement with the episode in the corrals. "I didn't have much to do with that, Doctor. She must have been sick when we unloaded the cattle truck, but I went inside to do the paper work and when I came out I learned one of the cows was down and not looking good. That's all I know." Ayden squirmed as it became obvious the Five-0 team was not about to be satisfied with such an abbreviated account.

"What's your name?"

It's one thing to see a guy handily taking down criminals on the nightly news, but entirely different to have that man's full attention directed squarely at you from not more than five feet away. Wondering if it was possible that this guy telepathically knew he was involved, Ayden stuttered out "Ayden Aikau, ah, sir."

Steve frowned slightly, sensing the young cowboy's discomfort at being the center of attention. "Why was this kid so nervous," he wondered? He didn't have time to worry about it just now, though, "Be here when we come back from the necropsy. I do want to talk to you."

Necropsy? Shit. "Okay, sure." Ayden was certain he was not going to be anywhere nearby, considering what he knew they were going to find inside that dead cow!

H50H50H50H50

Walking into the stark, bare examination room, Danny wrinkled his nose at the overwhelming odor of a mixture of strong chemicals and bovine body fluids. The enclosure was nothing like Max's pristine autopsy room. There was no deceased body, decorously covered by a white sheet, lying on a disinfected examination table, for one thing. No soft strains of classical music playing gently on the sound system in the background. Instead, there was a dead cow lying on its side on a giant-sized green plastic tarp laid out in the middle of a darkly stained concrete floor. Rigor had set in, and all four legs stuck straight out in rigid formation from the distended body. Said black cow had a most surprised look upon her face as she stuck out her enlarged tongue at the group of people entering the vet's domain. Hoses were snaked across the floor, while drains were situated at the four corners of the room, and the floor itself was slanted to the edges. A stark white medical lamp hung from the ceiling. There was not a delicate scalpel or hemostat in sight. Electric powered saws, meat cleavers, and hooks were lined up alongside stainless steel basins on a rusty enamel-coated metal table.

It was obvious McGarrett was enthralled by the sight before them. Steve walked around the cow, closely observing the animal's bloated appearance, all the while apparently oblivious to the putrid odor emanating from said carcass.

"Well, this just takes the cake," Danny mumbled under his breath.

Kono's eyes were watering, and she seemed about ready to back silently from the room, when Steve finally finished his once over examination of the black cow lying in state before them, and turned his attention to his team.

"Cool. That's quite a cow! How big a rib eye do you think it has?" Steve asked, spreading his hand out as wide as possible to indicate his opinion of the rib eye, while grinning widely at Danny. Obviously, Steve was enjoying a little payback for Danny's earlier heifer/steer comments. Chin rolled his eyes once again at this latest testosterone contest, and patted Danny on the back as the Jersey cop just stood there, gaping at his apparently deranged partner.

"You are a very sick man. You know that, right? How can you think about dinner when that cow probably died from a very, very bad, and highly contagious, I might add, disease? I have a mind to call Grace right now and tell her no hamburgers for her while she's in Las Vegas. In fact, we might become vegetarians." Danny sputtered, while turning a rather sickly shade of green under his flushed brow.

Getting the desired reaction, Steve - along with Kono who, thoroughly enjoying the banter enough to have made a miraculous recovery herself - was laughing heartily at Danny's expense when Dr. Nagahara and his assistant entered the room. "Shall we proceed, Commander?" queried the vet.

H50H50H50

"Interesting! No visible evidence that this brain has been infected with BSE." Dr. Nagahara was forty-five minutes into his necropsy. Wielding a hefty Stihl chainsaw, he had removed the head from the carcass, slit the skull in half, and proceeded to examine the brain.

Turning towards his guests in the necropsy room, his enthusiasm was obvious. The four friends had another "déjà vu" moment as an image of Dr. Max Bergman popped uninvited into their collective minds.

"An infected brain should have visible lesions, especially at end stage, but this brain appears quite normal. Of course, I will take samples and run further tests, but I'm not so sure this cow has the disease after all." Puzzled, but excited by this new found mystery, Pilipo placed the brain in an aluminum bowl and continued removing organs from the carcass, oblivious to the reactions of his observers.

"Well, joy! Our job is done! No Mad Cow, no fear of the islands turning into the Walking Dead's newest hang out, no threat to the Hawaiian beef industry. Case closed. Let's go get a Longboard, or ten." Danny was already heading towards the exit sign, when he was stopped in his tracks by his partner.

"We don't know that for sure yet, Danny. "

"You are correct, Commander," Dr. Nagahara agreed, remembering he had Five-0 waiting for his decision on the cow's death. "I will have to examine samples under the microscope to be able to establish cause of death with confidence, but at this point, COD is inconclusive. As such, I would continue to treat this as an active case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy until proven otherwise."

"And if you can't "confidently establish" Mad Cow, what else could have killed this presumably normal cow?" Danny was not happy. He was so done with this whole business. He wanted – no, needed, a shower, a meal (fish was sounding really good at the moment) and a cold beer, and he needed to get out of this chamber of bovine death that was compressing the ever-loving life out of him! But no, his determined partner was not satisfied yet.

"I need to examine the rest of the cow's organs. I'll try to pinpoint COD by this evening, Detective." As his gaze fell upon Commander McGarrett, Pilipo quickly realized he needed to find COD as soon as possible in order to prove his worth to this formidable-looking gentleman standing in front of him, nonchalantly – but oh, so dauntingly – resting his hand on the butt of his very large gun.

Steve nodded in approval. "Chin, Kono, stay here and let me know as soon as Dr. Nagahara comes to a conclusion." Turning towards his second in command, Steve continued: "Let's go, Danny. You and I need to talk to that cowboy who brought the cow in this morning. Find out where on the island the cow came from. I want to check the site out today yet." Steve led his rather wilted partner to the exit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few vocabulary words: Paniolo = The Hawaiian word for 'cowboy.' Omasum = The third compartment of the stomach in ruminants. What's a ruminant? Keep reading!

The pungent smell of fermenting grain permeated the air. Thirty minutes after Steve and Danny had departed the necropsy room; Dr. Nagahara had finally reached the large mass of the cow's stomach in his search for a definitive cause of death. By this time, even Chin had lost his enthusiasm for the answer.

"Is this the last organ we need to look at, Doctor? Can you tell us anything yet?"

"Just let me cut into the animal's rumen, Lieutenant. Did you know that a cow is a ruminant? It has four chambers in the stomach to aid in the digestion of the various types of plant material it will eat over the course of its lifetime, in a feed lot, or pasture." Pilipo lectured, as he cut into the organ with his scalpel.

"Oh, my!"

All three stared in surprised awe at what tumbled out from the inside of the mass of tissue and blood. Sitting in the bottom of the aluminum specimen bowl were over 20 cylindrical latex tubes, looking for all the world like giant pills. The remains of 30 more tubes also spilled into the bowl, but they were little more than juices, plant matter, and bits of latex, having been well on their way to complete digestion. The familiar sweet stench of a common product found for illicit sale on the streets of Chinatown, and at beach parking areas around Oahu, sent Chin and Kono into fits of eye-watering gagging.

"Well, Lieutenant Kelly, I do believe I can unquestionably tell you the cause of death now," Dr. Nagahara triumphantly announced. Looking at the stunned faces of the remaining Five-0 team standing before him, Pilipo explained, "It is definitely not BSE. Our bovine friend has succumbed to respiratory and digestive failure caused by the disintegration of a large number of cannabis pills packed into her stomach."

H50H50H50

Alejandro Montoya fought back the urge to slice open Ayden Aikau's stomach and spill his entrails all over his well-manicured garden terrace. It would be just retribution for Montoya's present predicament, caused by this stupid little Hawaiian Paniolo! How could this idiot have been so highly recommended by the locals to get the job done right? He had been assured that Aikau, although young, was a seasoned local cowboy who knew his livestock, and knew who he could trust to make sure the pure, top of the line Cannabis would be safely implanted into the cows on their way to the mainland. The plan had been to slide 50 one-ounce Cannabis-filled latex "pills" directly into the omasum of the cow's stomach through a 15-inch long pill applicator. The rubber pills were supposed to last in that part of the cow's tract for a minimum of 5 days, before the digestive juices would eat through the latex and release the highly potent premium cannabis into the cow's digestive system. Ideally, the transport barge would have made it to the west coast and disembarked it's shipment of "organic" replacement breeding stock, before any problems could have arisen. The cows would never have made it into a breeding herd, though, finding their way directly to a processing site to be slaughtered, and the latex pills filled with top grade Cannabis safely removed, and on the way to distribution. Unfortunately, Aikau had picked out one cow that had a very active digestive system, spilling the potent Cannabis into her system in less than a day. The poor young female had died from the Cannabis "high" that destroyed her respiratory tract, and ultimately her heart gave out.

Montoya would soon be facing the wrath of the cartel bosses, who were awaiting their shipment in Los Angeles that would never arrive, and all because one cow had over active digestive juices that had effectively killed the drug mule in record-breaking time! And now Aikau had informed him that the Governor's special task force was sniffing around the livestock yards because the stupid state vet had assumed the cow had died of something called Mad Cow Disease! How could his well-laid plans to become the Hawaiian connection for transporting the top grade Cannabis grown in the mountainous regions of Maui, and the big island of Hawaii, become thwarted so horrendously?

Because he had idiots working for him, that's how. Still, he was not about to let his efforts get mired in cow shit - or to personally end up as fertilizer in a cow pasture somewhere! There had to be a way to redeem himself in the eyes of the Cartel drug lords sitting in their Bellaire mansions.

Returning his gaze to a very nonplussed Ayden Aikau - whose blood had been slowly draining from his face while standing in front of Montoya, watching his expressions change from disbelief and shock to murderous hatred - Montoya calmly insisted, "Tell me what you know about this special task force called Five-0."

H50H50H50H50H50

A short time later, Alejandro Montoya sipped his afternoon cocktail with a feeling of enjoyable anticipation flooding his body. The dapper, thirty-something Latino, dressed in white linen trousers and a black and pink Gitman aloha shirt, knew what he had to do to redeem his value to the Cartel. Apparently Five-0 was a force to be reckoned with on the islands by all purveyors of criminal activities, but if the team was decimated – perhaps even eradicated – the man responsible for accomplishing such a deed would be sought after for partnership in all the nefarious activities in the state! The name of Alejandro Montoya would be on the lips of every drug lord, and syndicate boss for years to come. He would certainly have made it to the big leagues! Smacking his lips, his black eyes glistening in anticipation, Alejandro poured himself a fresh Dirty Martini, toasting the Hawaiian Islands and his soon to be new-found prominence in its underworld. A plan was already taking root in Alejandro's brain, and having sent Ayden Aikau back to the stockyards with his orders, he picked up his phone and made a satisfying phone call. His bid for dominance of the Islands' criminal sector was about to be set in motion.

H50H50H50H50

"This is so not good! I didn't sign up for going head to head with Five-0! Montoya doesn't have a clue what this McGarrett is like!" Ayden verbalized his frustration to the wind spiraling around the open window of his Ford F150 pickup as he raced back down the mountainside towards the livestock yards.

He had left the yards earlier, immediately after being told to stick around by Commander McGarrett. Ayden had figured it was going to be in his best interests to slip away, while the team was observing the necropsy. He needed to let Montoya know the scheme had been completely blown, all the while assuming Montoya would give him money to get off the island. Aiden didn't think there was a way for anyone to find out about Montoya's part in the drug smuggling, but he knew he'd have to make himself scarce. He certainly hadn't expected the man to go off in the manner he had!

After being told he had no choice but to return directly to the livestock yards and do exactly what Montoya told him, Ayden struggled with his conscience, as well as his fear. If only he hadn't listened to his buddy, Keanu, when he'd told him about this sweet deal that would make him a ton of cash without any risk of getting caught, he wouldn't be in this predicament.

Ayden had come from a poor family in Puna, on the big island. Life had been hard, his father having disappeared from the family when he was just little. Ayden got into trouble now and then, but nothing major, although he'd had a couple of run-ins with the Juvenile Court system. School seemed like a boring waste of time, until he discovered rodeo in high school. The thrill of roping a steer in mid-stride, watching it flip around after being stopped in its tracks by the planting of the horse's hooves in the soft dirt, jumping off your ride before it comes to a complete stop, running to tie off the animal's legs and throwing your arms up high to stop the clock in record seconds, sent an adrenalin rush coursing through his young veins. It opened up a whole new world to Ayden, and he was good at it. He joined the high school rodeo club and won a couple of silver belt buckles and even an all round cowboy saddle at the state high school rodeo finals. After graduation, Ayden knew his calling was working livestock, which afforded him the chance to continue to rodeo on weekends. So, he hired on at different ranches around the islands, working cattle during calving and branding time, as well as weaning and shipping.

But following the rodeo circuit was an expensive hobby. As a roper, he needed his own horse, and not just any horse – he had to have a very well bred, highly trained quarter horse. Ayden had his eye on one, a beautiful sorrel gelding that was just about ready to start, but the asking price for the horse was $50,000. Even being a very good cowboy in high demand for the various cattle ranches on the islands, it was going to take him a couple of years to save up that kind of money.

That's when Keanu – a guy he'd met in Juvie - entered the picture, dangling the idea of making an easy $50,000 in front of his face. All he had to do was meet with this Montoya dude. The man needed to get some premium grade marijuana off the islands, and he'd pay top dollar to someone who knew cows and who could figure out how to make drug mules out of a few, and get the order to Los Angeles. $50,000 was a lot of money to Ayden, and that horse wasn't going to wait around for him to honestly raise the cash to buy him. Besides, the idea of making a drug mule out of a cow intrigued Ayden. All he had to do was find a legitimate shipment of cows heading to LA, get hired on to the operation, then shove the marijuana-filled pills down the cows' gullets, and get the shipment of cows on the boat to the mainland.

Simple, right? Well, it was straight forward and simple right up until that one cow got sick in the holding pen awaiting brand inspection this morning.

Now Montoya, who suddenly seemed a lot crazier than when he had first met him, wanted Ayden to lure McGarrett to the high mountain pasture on the Haleakala ranch. Ayden really didn't know who to be more afraid of – Montoya and his drug lords, or McGarrett and his Five-0 team, but having just faced Montoya threatening to grind him up as livestock feed if he didn't do as told, Ayden was about to direct McGarrett and the blond haole into whatever sort of a trap the crazy Argentinean was setting.

H50H50H50

The sun was beating down relentlessly as Danny opened the heavy metal door leading out of the veterinary facilities. Walking into the sunlight from the relatively pleasant temperature of the basement, Danny immediately felt the oppressive heat suck the vitality out of his body. It was a phenomenon he feared he would never adjust to, and he was the only one of the five teammates who consistently suffered from this particular aspect of the island heat. It didn't make Danny any easier to get along with, either. With the humid air eradicating the benefits of his hair "products," causing him to impatiently attempt to slick back his curling tendrils, Danny grumpily turned to his partner.

"Remind me again, please, Steven, why Maui is my second favorite Hawaiian island? I seem to have forgotten what was so special here!"

Steve understood where Danny's disgruntled distress was actually coming from. He felt it, too. This case was not turning out to be a simple incident of finding out where a sick cow originated from. Dr. Nagahara was having a difficult time confirming the preliminary diagnosis of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. Even though he was intrigued by the science, Steve did not feel the Five-0 team needed to be involved. Still, to be thorough, he wanted to continue pursuing the case until he was convinced there was no further reason to do so.

"Come on, Danny, we'll just talk to the cow's owner, and then I promise I will buy you a Fire Rock from Kona Brewing Co. You'll love it."

Danny was hot, and parched. He just wanted to get this ordeal over with, and the thought of Steve supplying beer encouraged Danny to put up with his partner's shenanigans a while longer. "Promises, promises, Steven! You better be prepared to foot the bill."

Yep, Steve agreed it was time to finish this. Looking around the red dusty grounds for the nervous cowboy to interview, he suddenly became aware of a mud streaked black Ford F150 screeching through the gates, and pulling up directly in front of where he was standing.

"Hey! Watch where you're going! You just about ran us over," shouted a rather flustered Danny. Looking up from brushing the red dirt off his dress slacks, he recognized the young cowhand they needed to interview sliding out of the driver's seat of the pickup. "Well, what do you know, Steve, here's our next fountain of information. Any bets he doesn't "know anything?"

"Chill out, Danny. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt first." Steve squinted just a bit. He was trying to figure out what was going on with this guy. He could sense tension in his stance, but there was more to it than just that. Now was not the time to worry about it, though, so Steve shook off his unease. Smiling, he greeted the young man.

"Aikau, right?"

"Yeah. Ayden Aikau." Ayden took a deep breath and attempted a nonchalant handshake with the Five-0 commander.

Introducing Danny as his partner, Steve indicated for the threesome to move out of the sun.

"Mr. Aikau, can you tell us anything else about the cow this morning?"

"Uh, no, not really." "How much does McGarrett know," Ayden questioned himself? He was having a hard time trying to figure out what McGarrett was up to. Surely he knew from the necropsy that the cow had not been sick with Mad Cow Disease? Surely the Five-0 commander knew the cow had been used as a drug mule? Why wasn't he pressing him for information about the drugs? It made no sense to Ayden unless…sure! "McGarrett doesn't know anything! They haven't found the pills yet. Maybe Montoya's demand is going to be easier to accomplish than I thought."

"Commander, I'm just sick about what happened with that cow. I feel as if it's my fault! If I'd paid better attention observing the herd at the Haleakala Ranch when I picked out the cattle for this shipment to LA, I might have noticed something wrong with her then." Ayden used his best cowboy puppy dog expression to make it appear he really felt bad about the day's events.

"I doubt it would have made much difference to how things turned out," Danny sighed. "The cow probably would have died anyway. Dr. Nagahara can't confirm the mad cow diagnosis yet, but obviously, she died of something. Where's this Haleakala Ranch where you say you picked up these cows?"

"Bingo! They haven't found the marijuana boluses yet! Now, that's a plus for me!" Ayden smiled inwardly.

"Oh, it's not far. It's in the interior part of the island, on the slopes of the Haleakala Crater. The dirt road is kind of muddy this time of year, though. The daily rains leave the soil pretty saturated." Eye-balling his own pickup, Aiden continued with his subtle persuasion. "Need a truck with four-wheel drive to get through the muck to the ranch buildings."

"Great," Danny muttered under his breath. Things just couldn't get any better today. There was obviously no Fire Rock in his near future. But, the detective in him was not a quitter. Danny wanted to finish this case with something concrete to write in the official report that would let the Governor know Five-0 had covered all the bases, whether they found the source of this poor cow's demise or not!

"I think we better go check out this ranch, Steve. Even if this cow died from a broken heart instead of BSE, we need to have something for Denning."

Steve couldn't argue the point. Looking from the livestock offices where Chin and Kono were still engrossed with Dr. Nagahara's minutely detailed examination of each bovine organ, towards Ayden's pickup, Steve bluntly assailed him. "Can you take us out there? We don't have an outfit, and the veterinarian is still tied up."

Eagerly, Ayden agreed to drive Steve and Danny up to Haleakala ranch. This time, both men noticed the strange behavior. One minute the young man appeared nervous and wary, while the next he was smiling and cooperative! Something wasn't right, but neither man could place a finger on what was wrong. Shrugging off the troublesome feeling, Steve and Danny climbed into the pickup with Ayden to begin the ride up the crater to Haleakala Ranch.


	6. Chapter 6

Friday, 3:45pm - Haleakala Ranch Road, Harris Black Angus Ranch

"Old man Harris is probably out riding the fence line around his pastures," Aiden informed Steve and Danny as they pulled up to the sprawling ranch house of Haleakala Ranch headquarters, owned by well-known cattleman, Richard Kealoha Harris. The view had been spectacular on the drive, with the turquoise blue ocean, and native hibiscus plants, bursting into view around every bend in the road, but the late afternoon sun was starting to give way to a thickening layer of fog settling over the top of the crater. As Ayden had intimated, after leaving the paved road leading to the summit of the volcano, the dirt roadway had become a mucky red mess to drive on.

Dotting the steep hillside, Danny and Steve spotted dozens of well-fed black cows, heads bent in earnest to tear mouthfuls of luscious native grass to fill their four-chambered stomach. Groups of young calves raced over the incline, playing "catch me if you can" and bumping into the stalwart sides of their mothers. Upon recognizing the unforgettable scent of his mom, a calf would completely forget about his previous antics and immediately head between Mom's legs to grab a quick snack of warm, always available milk.

"Now this reminds me of Uncle Vince's dairy farm in Wisconsin, minus the volcano in the background, of course." Danny fondly remembered his childhood summer visits to his great uncle's small farm. He had truly enjoyed walking the 25 head of Guernsey cows from the paddock into the barn twice a day for milking. It was such a bucolic existence! He would have to get Grace out here, maybe get her some riding lessons...

"Earth to Danny!"

Startled out of his reverie, Danny quickly clear his throat, "Yes, Steven?"

Noting that Steve was eyeballing him with a quizzical look, Danny decided it was time to share his secret cattle knowledge with Steve. "Alright. Okay. Quit it with the "almost-but-not-quite aneurism face." So I know about cows because my uncle had a dairy herd when I was a kid, and Mom would send Mattie and me out to Wisconsin in the summers to, as she put it, work off some of our aggressions. I think maybe we drove her a little nuts with our summertime exuberance!"

"Huh. Well, that explains a lot, I guess." Even after four years as partners and spending more time together than either really wanted, Steve was constantly amazed at how little tidbits of his partner's past surfaced in the most abstract ways at the most innocuous times. This was the first Steve had ever heard about Danny spending summers in Wisconsin milking cows. He'd have to investigate this rural experience further, especially since Danny usually complained about anything that wasn't a city skyscraper sitting in a concrete jungle. Danny's interrogation would have to wait for now, though.

H50H50H50

The afternoon shadows were beginning to lengthen, and Ayden wanted to get his game plan set in motion. He was well aware that Mrs. Harris was off the island visiting their daughter at the University of Hawaii on Hilo. After the wrangling and shipping in the morning, the neighbors who had helped out had all gone back to their own places.

"Usually after shipping cows, Mr. Harris will move the remaining herd into a different pasture. He's probably trailed the heifers he kept way up the crater to the winter pasture. There's plenty of new grass up there, and protection from the elements for now, too. He'll be riding around the fence line to make sure there's no weak spot for the cows to break through. If you need to talk to him, that's where we better look." Ayden copped a glance at both men while he was talking. McGarrett looked like he could handle a horse, but he wasn't so sure about Williams. Needless to say, it was the quickest way to get up the mountainside, and would play into the overall plan nicely.

"I'll saddle up some horses for us."

"Wait a minute, can't we just take your truck?" Steve had no desire to listen to a rant from his partner about having to get on horseback to search for a rancher to question.

"No, Commander. My pickup won't make it up the mudded-out road, and besides, the road narrows down to a trail before it reaches the pasture. The only way you're going to get up there today is by horseback."

"Come on, Steve. Let's get this over with," Danny tossed over his shoulder as he followed Ayden down to the modern aluminum-sided barn. "There's nothing like a good horseback ride in the fresh air to invigorate the senses!"

There it was again – another incongruous fact about his partner, revealed! Danny Williams could, and would, actually ride a horse without an argument. Shaking his head to process this new factoid, Steve allowed himself to stride after his partner and the cowboy.

H50H50H50

Thirty minutes later the three men were well up the steep slope of the crater. The horses knew where they were going, and it had been easy to keep them heading in the direction of the upper pasture. Still, it was not actually a very comfortable trail ride. It was definitely muddy. Little rivulets of water trickled down the center of the path, a vestige of the earlier downpour. Even though it was cloyingly hot, droplets of moisture clung to the leaves on the bushes along the cow path, bringing some cooling relief to the men when they brushed against the foliage.

"How are you doing there, partner?" Steve shifted in his saddle to glance behind himself to see Danny swipe his arm across his forehead. He looked hot. His blonde head of hair was decidedly curlier than Steve could remember ever seeing it.

"Oh, I'm just perfect, couldn't be better." Danny let out a long, jagged sigh, wishing he actually felt that great. The humidity on the mountain, thanks to the earlier rain and now the descending fog, was making the ride thoroughly uncomfortable. Danny was sure his horse was finding every slippery rut on the trail to walk directly through. The saddle slipped from side to side with every stride, simultaneously stretching and crunching Danny's skeleton enough so that he knew he would spend Monday morning being manipulated by the chiropractor. But pride, one of Danny's personal deadly sins, kept him from letting his partner know just how much he wanted to get off the damn horse.

Steve was not an unobservant man, and he knew his partner inside out. He was about to call ahead to Ayden, diligently leading the little pack train up the trail, to suggest a short rest, when Ayden suddenly disappeared from view. Giving a little jab to the horse's flank with his stirrups, Steve quickly covered the distance to the top of the ridge himself, entering onto a plateau of lush green grass dotted with wild purple and yellow blooms. The heady fragrance of the blossoms flooded the senses, while the buzzing of bees overwhelmed the airwaves. This was a part of Steve's native land that he was meeting for the first time, having never been to such a secluded high mountain pasture before. It was an experience Steve took a moment to embrace and enjoy.

"Hey, where'd our cowboy go?"

Steve was startled to find Danny alongside him. Looking around, he saw the fence line stretching into the distance with the ocean on the horizon. He saw tall grass that looked to be waist high, and a wooden stock tank in the center of the field. Ayden Aikau was not visible, though. The pasture was empty. The cowboy and his horse had vanished.

H50H50H50H50

After clearing the top of the ridge, a short few paces ahead of Commander McGarrett, Ayden made his move. A brief visual sweep of the vista showed that Mr. Harris was not in the pasture, as Ayden had suspected. Harris had informed Ayden that morning that after loading his cows for shipping, he was catching the island hopper to the big island for the weekend himself. No one would be back to the ranch before Monday morning.

Ayden made a hard tug on his horse's bridle, turning him to his left and heading him down an overgrown cow trail one would not notice without prior knowledge of the area. Maneuvering his horse quietly through the undergrowth, he made his way around the outer edge of the field until he came upon the back side of a weathered wooden barn. Placed at the far side of the field from the entrance to the clearing, a barbed wire gate was already opened, the gate post lying on the ground. Noticing that McGarrett and Williams had reached the clearing themselves, he dismounted in record calf-tying time, and sprinted inside the open-ended barn to get out of sight.

Something else was hiding in the shadows as well. Ayden was disoriented upon entering the barn, as the sudden shift from daylight to the heavily shaded darkness swallowing every corner of the shed, caused him to momentarily pause. He never saw the muck shovel cutting through the shadows to descend upon his unsuspecting head, but the stars he suddenly found twinkling before his eyes, were the last things he remembered as he silently slumped to the hay covered barn floor.

H50H50H50

"I don't know where he took off to, Danny," Steve admitted. I didn't think I was that far behind him on the trail."

"Ya know, buddy, I've had a bad feeling about this kid since he pulled up to the livestock yards in such a rush. He just seemed off – one minute nervous around us, the next minute almost jovial and willing to help us out. Doesn't that seem just a little, oh, I don't know, odd to you? Now he's disappeared off the face of this mountain…just like that!" Flamboyantly spreading his arm wide to include the entire pasture, Danny swilled a sip of water around in his dry mouth before swallowing. He'd used up most of the water in the bottle hanging from his saddle. "I'm starting to think there's more to this cow thing than we know yet."

"Yeah, Danny, I think you're right. Something is definitely not okay with this scenario. Where is this Harris guy, anyway?" Looking all around the near side of the pasture for any sign of Aikau, or Harris for that matter, Steve's vision landed on the worn and dilapidated shed just inside the fence line to the left. "Come on, Danny, maybe Ayden is resting his horse in the barn. Let's go check it out."

Entering through the corner gate into the pasture, the partners guided their horses towards the weathered barn, which upon closer inspection, showed signs of recent use. Used straw, dotted with dried, and some not-so-dry cow patties, was strewn around the entrance into the shed. Danny thought it looked a lot like the calf sheds on his uncle's farm that are used to shelter young livestock during frigid snowstorms, and summer thunderstorms. It would make sense to have some protection from the elements, even here in Hawaii, for the very young calves not quite capable of regulating their own body heat.

Something caught Danny's eye – a glint of shiny metal arcing through the shadows inside the depths of the old barn.

"Steve, I think Aikau must be inside. Maybe he's found Harris." Quickly dismounting, Danny handed his reins to his partner. "See if there's something to tie the horses up to – I certainly don't want to walk back down this crater!"

"Well, yes sir! Right away, sir." Even though Steve was disgruntled with the sudden thrust of reins into his hands, he couldn't resist chuckling at his partner's smugness, as with a little smirk, blue eyes dancing, Danny waved his hand in the air and headed towards the barn.

"Awesome, Danny, awesome! Hand off the reins and forge ahead. This is a little out of character for you, brah! You must be in more of a comfort zone than I would have thought!" Smiling to himself, Steve was turning around to tie the horses to the nearest fence post, when an incredible bellow from hell rent the still mountain air. Both horses, eyes wide, ears laid back, and nostrils flaring, fearfully shied away, and forcibly tore their reins out of Steve's hands.

H50


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to find out what's happened to Danny, don't you think? (in fact, it's way past time - sorry about that!)

Friday, 4:30pm – Harris Ranch pasture, Mau'i

"What the hell?" Startled, and unsure where the sound had come from, as it seemed to reverberate all across the mountain slope, Steve turned in a circle trying to find the source. When his gaze reached the entrance to the barn, an unequivocal sense of disaster overtook his brain. Just inside, standing directly over his partner, who was somehow flat on his back on the ground, was a full-grown and incredibly angry, longhorn bull.

H

5

0

Danny was winning the testosterone battle today, for sure! The look on his friend's face as he thrust the reins in Steve's direction was too good to be true. Danny couldn't help but smirk and wave his hand, while he sauntered towards the barn/calf shed.

Truth be told, although the humidity was killing him, he was thoroughly enjoying this foray into the back country of an island he actually found quite beautiful and pastoral – a nice change from Honolulu and Waikiki. Sure, he liked the big city. The pace was definitely slower and more laid back than in Jersey, or New York, but he'd never let on to Steve that Honolulu was more like New Jersey than not. Getting out into the countryside, riding horseback and chasing down cows brought back some pretty sweet memories of summers in the country…with Mattie. God, how he missed his brother!

Danny paused when he stepped through the opening into the barn. It was dark. Shadows were deep, and hid the corners of the red dirt and straw covered floor.

"Aikau! Are you in here? Where's Harris?" While his eyes were adjusting to the shadows, Danny caught the outline of a large dark form standing in the left rear corner of the shed. He sensed he wasn't alone in the shed, and he actually managed to take one step forward, before a sudden sizzling flash of electricity blossomed across the backside of the shadow, and the most God awful sound, a high-pitched ear shattering squeal, erupted. Stopped in his tracks by the sound, Danny could only look on in stunned terror as the shadow burst out of the depths of the enclosure and came barreling towards him with a look of murder in its eyes.

Anyone who knows anything about 2,000 pound bulls knows you do not stand your ground when an enraged bull charges you. Danny had less than a second to realize this creature, with the longest horn spread he'd ever seen, meant to skewer him into the ground. Furiously trying to back pedal out of the way, but without watching to see what was behind him, he tripped over a dried cow pie, and landed on the ground squarely on his back.

"Ouch! Damn it that hurt!" Danny's predicament didn't get any better upon opening his eyes. He had barely enough time to curl onto his left side, before the wildly mad bull, standing directly over his body, lowered his head, and butted Danny hard. Grunting in surprise as the solid bone of the bull's skull connected with his ribcage, and feeling all the air in his lungs whoosh out of his body, Danny never saw the bull turn his head and jab his horn for all it was worth into Danny's side. But he felt it. He experienced the searing pain explode in his body as his flesh was sliced into. Fire flared along the path of severed synapses deep into his side. Screaming from the searing pain, Danny rolled again on to his back, unavoidably exposing his torso once more to the determined bull.

Subconsciously he knew Steve was somewhere nearby to help him, but his beleaguered brain could only think of its own survival. Drawing up into a fetal position, he prayed the bull had lost his fight, but once again he felt the stabbing jolt of horn, this time penetrating his lower chest and snagging the curved tip of the horn on his ribcage. Suddenly, Danny left the relative safety of the hard packed ground as his body was lifted up and tossed a few feet into the air, landing hard again. With his senses nearly obliterated by the tremendously swift assault to his well-being, time stood still for him. He could see his beautiful Grace smiling at him, with big brown, sad eyes. He wanted to tell her it would be okay, everything was fine, but his baby suddenly faded away from view, and pain wracked his body. Danny just barely managed to open his eyes one last time and connect with the red-rimmed black eyes of the bull. Perhaps he heard someone shout his name, but it didn't matter anymore. He couldn't move. He was struggling to get an adequate breath into his blazing lungs. Whatever was going to happen, there was no way he could stop it. Realizing that the easiest way out of experiencing what was sure to come, was to not be conscious, Danny silently succumbed to the most unbearable pain he'd ever experienced in his life.

"Danny!" Oh, God, no! There was no way Steve could cover the distance to get between his friend and the beast bearing down on him. He watched in frozen horror as the bull butted his skull into Danny's torso and then appeared to spear him. His legs were propelling him forward, though, as the raging animal jabbed its yellowed horn into Danny's torso a second time, raised its head with the impaled man riding the end, and then toss his partner into the air as if he was worrying a rattlesnake in its den.

Steve had his gun out of the holster as he sprinted the final few feet towards the scene before him. The bull spun about to take another stab at the impossibly still man curled in a ball on his side. Without hesitation, Steve fired his gun at the beast just as it began to lower its head, wounding the animal in the shoulder. Although the caliber of the gun was not high enough to kill, the crazed bovine at least lost his desire to fight. Bellowing his outraged disdain, the bull took off on the run, circling the shed and heading through the open gate out of the meadow, all the while continuing to loudly let the world know of his indignation, long after he was gone from sight.

Sliding to a stop alongside his best friend's still form, Steve immediately took in the seriousness of Danny's injuries. Blood was freely seeping out of a deep, ragged gash, at least four inches long – the diameter of the bull's horn – in Danny's side. Feeling around for breaks, he discovered another wound higher in the chest cavity and felt an unnatural movement in a couple of ribs – obvious breaks, and the probable reason for Danny's shallow, raspy respirations.

Although there might be other, less noticeable injuries, Steve knew the most serious one, at the moment, was the wound in Danny's side. He had to get the bleeding stopped, and then he had to get help. There was still no sign of the paniolo who had led them to this pasture, and as Steve looked around, he discovered that their horses, in their panic from the initial scream of the bull, had removed themselves from danger, and fled back down the trail. Steve and Danny were alone, high up the side of Haleakala Crater, with evening shadows falling, and more island fog starting to settle down over the high mountain pasture.

Removing his tee shirt, Steve tried to press the wad of material into Danny's wounds to stop the bleeding as best he could. With no first aid supplies or even water, time was going to be of the essence. Considering the location of the wound, it was all Steve could do to keep from worrying about evisceration from the abdominal cavity.

"Steve? Steve!" Danny had regained consciousness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, but we have to leave Danny alone in the field for this chapter! It won't be for long, I promise! :)

Friday, 5:15pm, Harris Ranch trail, Mau'i

Steve looked up from his attempts at first aid and found two frightened blue eyes boring into his own, as if pleading with him to tell him it was all a mistake, and he was fine.

"Danny! Its okay, man, I've got you. You got tossed pretty hard and there's a little bit of bleeding. I'll get it stopped soon then I'll call for help."

Reliving those earlier moments fraught will fear – both his partner's and his own – Steve found himself slipping and sliding down the mountain trail, as quickly as he could move. Danny didn't have much time, of that Steve was sure. He didn't know much of anything about injuries sustained from close encounters with horned bulls, but he could well imagine what kind of internal damage Danny could be facing, from the lancing by the bull's horn, as well as the ensuing tearing of tissues and organs from the tossing. It took all of twenty minutes to cover the steep terrain down, but Steve finally stumbled off the trail at the ranch buildings. Aikau's pickup was still parked in front of the stables, but there was no one within hailing range, and no one in the house. Breathlessly cursing the young cowboy, and vowing to find him in due time, Steve grabbed his phone out of his pocket. Seeing that he finally had service, he called Chin.

-H50H50H50-

"We've got to let Steve, and Danny, know what's going on, Kono. This isn't just a case of helping the Governor find infected cows anymore, this is criminal drug trafficking. The importance of this case has just ramped up a dozen notches."

Kono already had her phone to her ear, but disgustedly turned it off and stuffed it back in her pocket. "It's going straight to both Steve and Danny's voice mail, Chin. They have to be out in the boonies! Did Steve tell you where they were going with the Paniolo?"

Sighing, while trying to recall what his boss had said earlier when he called to tell the rest of the team that they were heading out with Aikau, Chin paced the hallway in front of Dr. Nagahara's office.

'He said Aikau was going to drive them out to the ranch where the load of cows had come from this morning, but he didn't give me a name."

"That would be Richard Kealoha Harris' Haleakala Ranch, but this doesn't make any sense!" Pilipo was completely baffled by the supposition that the Haleakala Ranch was involved with drug trafficking. "The Harris family has been raising Angus and Longhorn cattle on the island for a hundred years. They are a well respected livestock family. No, this cannot be right."

"I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it, but for now, Doctor, we need you to get us out to that ranch. Commander McGarrett needs to know we have a more serious case on our hands."

H50H50H50H50

Kono and Chin were both lost in their own thoughts during the ride to the mountain ranch, each officer realizing the scope of the marijuana smuggling extended beyond the confines of a single shipment of supposedly organic cows for the mainland. They needed to find which Cartel was involved, who was growing the weed on the islands, and who was responsible for smuggling the Cannabis to the mainland.

"Huh."

Chin had to glance to the back seat to see Kono smiling slyly to herself.

"What's so funny, Cuz?"

"Oh, I was thinking how "organic meat" just took on a whole new meaning! I suppose Cannabis-infused organic burgers would go over real well in Colorado! The snort and guffaw out of Kono was not exactly lady like, but behind the wheel, Pilipo chuckled brightly. Chin just shook his head, and wondered anew about his cousin's warped sense of humor, as he took his vibrating phone out of his pocket.

Looking at the caller ID, Chin answered the phone with a simple, "How goes it, brah?" He was not prepared for the shaken voice of his boss on the other end of the line.

"Chin! Get to the Haleakala Ranch buildings now. We'll also need a life flight helicopter to meet us here. Danny's been gored by a bull, Chin. He's still in the pasture. I had to get back to the ranch buildings to call for help." Massaging his forehead with his free hand, Steve lowered his voice to barely a whisper, but the raw emotion traveled all the way through the airwaves. "I left Danny alone, Chin. It's bad."

With Steve's first words, Chin had put out his hand to stop Kono and Pilipo's laughter. Seeing how suddenly serious her cousin had gotten, Kono immediately tensed. "What is it, Chin? What's happened? Is that Steve?"

Again, Chin shushed her with a look. "All right, Steve. Stay put. Dr. Nagahara is driving us to the ranch now. We'll be there in 15 minutes. I'll call you back after getting a helicopter in the air. It'll be okay, Steve, Danny's tough as nails. You know that."

"Oh my God, Chin, what's happened to Danny?" Kono's eyes welled up with the last of Chin's words spoken into the phone. Tears overflowed in a stream down her lovely face when she heard Chin say, "Danny's been gored by a bull."

H50H50H50

Steve disconnected the phone after Chin called back to inform him that a Life Flight helicopter was on the way, and should be over the ranch in 10 minutes. They would be there themselves in less than five minutes. "Hang in there Danny. Help is coming. I'm so sorry I had to leave you alone, buddy. You know I wouldn't have done that if there'd been another way." Steve was having a hard time rationalizing the fact that he'd had no choice but to leave his partner alone, on the hillside, with his injuries. Sure, he knew there was no other way to get help, but what if that crazy bull returned? Would Danny be able to fend it off with the gun he'd left in his waistband? Would he even be conscious?

Steve was roused from his feverish mental rant by the sound of truck tires screeching to a stop, flinging mud all around. He had been pacing up and down on the house's shaded veranda, drinking water scavenged from the refrigerator inside.

Now nearly tripping down the steps, Steve was finally reunited with his remaining teammates. Relief flooded his senses, but the fear in his heart for his partner didn't diminish in the least.

"Chin! Kono. We've got to move. It's been too long." Latching on to Steve's bicep, Chin managed to stop his friend in his tracks. "The helicopter is almost here, Steve. We need to wait. You're the only one who can guide it to Danny. Right now, can you tell us what happened?"

Steve realized Chin was right, but that didn't make it any easier to stand still and wait. His insides churned violently as he revisited the crazed beast's attack, yet again, for his companions' benefit. He looked up from the spot of mud, or maybe manure, on his hiking boot that he'd been fixating on, in time to see Kono's frightened eyes streaming copious amounts of tears down her cheeks. Steve stepped into her trembling body to comfort her, and him self, as well.

"But why did the bull charge Detective Williams, Commander? Bulls, for all their size, are generally mild mannered animals who shy away from undue contact with humans." Dr. Nagahara was puzzled by the attack. "Something must have provoked the bull, Commander?"

"No. Nothing that I saw," Steve insisted. "One minute Danny is walking into the barn, and the next he's being flung into the air by a raging monster."

"Where did Aikau disappear to, that's what I want to know," added Kono, visibly backing away from Steve's embrace and wiping the tears from her face. The look of determination that took over her visage made it obvious that Aikau had better hope someone besides Kono was the one to find him.

While Steve had been talking with Kono and Pilipo, Chin moved to the Livestock Suburban and pulled a clean shirt out of Steve's overnight bag, still sitting in the back end of the outfit, along with the rest of the team's gear. He walked back to the group, simply handing the shirt to his bare-chested, muddy, and sweaty boss.

"Steve, we were on our way out here to tell you that we have a much different situation on our hands than a sick cow." Knowing that Steve needed to be in the loop concerning the drug smuggling, Chin spoke crisply. Nodding in the doctor's direction, he continued, "Dr. Nagahara finished the necropsy and found the remains of close to fifty rubber boluses, filled with what appears to be pure grade Cannabis, in the cow's digestive tract. This isn't a case of a BSE outbreak, but a specialized drug smuggling mission gone very bad."

"What? Are you saying this whole mess is drug related?" Steve spat his ire out in a volley. "Shit! That explains our wayward cowboy's bi-polar behavior! He's involved in this up to his belt loops, and he led us up the mountain right into a trap."

A look of sheer panic overtook his features; all color washed away from his sweaty face. His eyes grew to the size of dark saucers as he looked over the pastoral scene before him, full of content cow/calf pairs, enjoying some family time. Steve had suddenly realized he had left his partner alone in a compromised situation, at an unsecured location, without any back up, and with the very real possibility that more trouble was ahead.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, lets find out what's been happening back at the barn, shall we? Remember Ayden, the Paniolo? He's back in the picture, and things aren't going so well for him. Things are not hunky-dory for anyone, at the moment! Enjoy!
> 
> A tremendous thank you goes out, again, to the fabulous Beta, Wenwalke - who does love her commas!
> 
> New Spanish vocabulary words - "jovan" = young man; "yuta" = slang for policeman, cop

Friday, 5:30pm, Harris Ranch pasture, Mau'i

Ayden Aikau awoke to the feeling that his head was about to explode. Lifting his hand to touch a particularly sensitive spot on his temple, he felt a crusty, but yet viscous, substance sticking to his fingers. Blood. The taste of dirt was suddenly noticeable in his mouth. Coming more fully aware of his surroundings, he realized he was lying on his side on the ground, and he had no idea how he had gotten to be that way. As his vision started to clear, he looked around himself, recognizing straw; a cake encrusted feed pan, a haphazardly tossed water bucket, and a metal muck shovel thrown down on the hard pack in front of him. The light suddenly went on in his befuddled brain. He took the leap to remembering where he was, and how his day had gone, including the phone call to Montoya while he saddled the horses in Harris' barn, culminating with the unexpected action of the stranger connecting the muck shovel with his head.

Gingerly sitting up and leaning back against the wall of the shed, Ayden blinked his eyes to focus on the bucket lying in the dirt, staring at it until the shed stopped spinning around him like a dime store top. Raising his eyes to further take in his surroundings, Ayden noticed a human form bending over someone lying still, on the ground just outside the shed. Assuming it was one of the cops, he started to call out when the man looming over his supposedly fallen comrade turned around to leer at Ayden, aiming a rifle at his chest.

Snickering menacingly, the burly Latino sneered at Ayden. "I suppose you thought Montoya would trust you with getting the job done right this time? Not likely. But at least you get to go out in the same grand style as Five-0!"

At that moment, confronted with the fact that his life was very much in danger, Ayden's earlier conversation with his boss flooded back to him in a rush of words, and feelings.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++H50-H50-H50++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Montoya had made it very clear to Ayden what his choices were to be.

Standing in front of Alejandro Montoya, trying to explain what had happened with the dead cow, Ayden could only wish he was anywhere but where he was. The man had literally flown off his rocker! Just as swiftly, Montoya's face had changed, softening into a benign, brotherly countenance.

Montoya had heard of the Governor's pet cops, but since his business was solely conducted on the Big Island, and Maui, he was free of any encounters with this so-called "elite" squad of do-gooders. As such, Montoya's plan was quite simple - he could get rid of Aikau and this McGarrett in one fluid action.

Sadly shaking his head back and forth, Montoya ever so kindly addressed Ayden once again, "You've made a shit-hole four feet wide, and six feet deep for yourself, Aikau. This will all come down on you, boy. The drug cartel in California will want someone's head for this disaster, and you can rest assured, it will not be me."

Montoya paced solemnly back and forth in front of the now distraught cowboy. "I like you, joven. I want to help you get out of this little problem alive." Montoya turned on his considerable charm, smiling solicitously at Ayden. He draped his arm across the boy's shoulders and guided him towards the edge of his lanai, overlooking the lovely turquoise sea and the shimmering white sand beach spread out beyond the rocky ledge before them. Consolingly, Montoya cooed, "Do you want me to help you?"

Ayden was confused by Montoya's sudden change in demeanor, but as scared as he had just been by the man's raging, he was young and naïve, and greedily clung to the possibility that Montoya really meant to help him avoid trouble with the cartel, and the police.

"I guess so. I mean, sure. What do you want me to do?" The young man was visibly nervous, but willing to listen to Montoya.

"You will go back to the livestock yards, boy, and figure out how to bring this yuta, McGarrett, to me today. I don't care if he brings along one of his cohorts, or his whole team. McGarrett will have a shockingly fatal encounter with supposed marijuana producers. How sad." A decidedly evil smile slowly spread all the way across Montoya's face, lighting up his swarthy Latin features. "You will help me to wipe this threat to the prosperity of the Hawaiian drug trade off the islands, boy! We will become famous in the drug world, and together we will make millions!" Crowding Ayden even closer to the edge of the cliff, he finished his passive threat, "This is the only way, joven, to redeem your self. Cross me on this, and I vow your body will be ground up into meal and fed to Harris' cows by morning."

Ayden could just make out the quietly purred threat whispered into his ear, while feeling the pressure of the Latino's body leaning into his back and nudging him closer to the edge of the rocky cliff face.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ H50-H50-H50++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Get over here and help me with this guy." Diego, Montoya's bodyguard, and all around goon, roughly pulled the still dazed Aikau to his feet. Shoving him towards the prostrate body on the ground, Ayden had a chance to take a good look at the man. Detective Williams was definitely unconscious, lucky bastard! His blood smeared shirt rose and fell in an erratic cadence, harkening to the man's shallow and raspy breaths. Ayden counted two wounds to his torso, packed with what looked like a green tee shirt, the same color as the shirt McGarrett had been wearing. He was sweating profusely, and as white as a ghost. Ayden had never seen anyone look that close to death before, and it scared the shit out of him. How the hell did he get into this mess!

A quick visual search around the pasture confirmed Ayden's fear that the Commander was nowhere in sight. As he was contemplating what had happened to Williams, a side-by-side ATV buzzed into the pasture from the north, and pulled alongside the fallen officer. Diego motioned to Ayden, "Help Paulo get him into the ATV. Don't try anything stupid, unless you want your life to end right here."

Jarred into motion by a well-placed boot to his back side, Ayden squatted down alongside Danny, who remained blissfully unconscious during the jostling. As he reached around Danny's waist to lift him, he felt the hard steel of a gun tucked into the waistband of the man's dress pants. He made sure it remained hidden from view as he assisted Paulo in hauling Danny up and unceremoniously loading him into the back end of the side by side. Diego signaled Ayden to join Danny in the back, with the tip of his rifle for persuasion. The two goons climbed in the front and the ATV headed out of the pasture through the same gate the irate bull had thundered through a short time before.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++H50H50H50H50+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The remaining members of the Five-0 team were each lost in their own thoughts, wedged tightly into the confines of the Medievac helicopter, as it circled around the high mountain pasture. The steely-eyed, tight-lipped countenance of Commander McGarrett was unnerving, especially for the flight crew unfamiliar with the Navy SEAL's reputation. Even though Chin's solid hand on his shoulder helped to keep Steve from jumping out of the still hovering copter, and possibly breaking an ankle from the 15 foot drop, it did little to lower his stress level.

"Steve?" A quiet, solemn voice next to the Commander's ear broke through the copter's rotary noise to bring Steve out of his personal self-castigation.

"Where is he Chin? I left him right there in front of the shed." Steve's voice shook with dread. He knew he should never have left Danny alone up here.

"Perhaps he woke up disoriented and wandered off. He can't have gone far," Kono tried to calmly allay her boss's fears, but she knew it wasn't working, even for herself.

"He was already going into shock. There's no way he could have walked off by himself," Steve ground out between his tightly clenched jaws.

As soon as the copter touched down in the field, Steve was out, and on the run for the shed, with Chin and Kono close behind. It wasn't hard to find the scene of the altercation – the ground was chewed up then trampled down again with hoof prints. Yellow straw - some of which was stained red with Danny's blood - was scattered haphazardly around the area.

Deep in the clutches of despair, Steve could only turn around in a circle, searching for his partner, his friend. He hadn't been prepared for this. He had arrived with the promised help, a copter to evac, and even a pretty nurse named Hannah! He had fully expected to find a grievously injured partner lying right where he had left him, and his whole being had been in SEAL mode to extricate the wounded teammate, and get him to safety. Not this…not an empty field lying before him with darkness falling, and absolutely no idea where his brother could be.

"Steve! Got something over here!" Chin's voice jolted him into movement. He ran into the shed and found Chin, and Kono, staring at a contraption in Chin's hand that made Steve's blood instantly run cold. His whole being threatened to dissolve into a complete melt down, as he stared at the hated device


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter centers around Ayden, but Steve is a wreck and Danny is ...well ...

Friday, 6pm – Harris Ranch pasture, calf shed. Mau'i

Chin realized his faux pas as soon as he registered the devastated look of horror on his friend's face, while silently kicking himself. Kono reached out to steady her boss with a hand on his forearm. "We found it on the ground in the corner, Steve," Kono quietly spoke into Steve's ear.

Wetting his suddenly parched lips, Steve mentally steeled himself to reach for the cattle prod. Taking it from Chin he forced his hand to only slightly tremble as he looked over the single most feared artifact of his regular nightmares. Wo Fat swam before his eyes. The memory of electric pain shooting across his chest, down his arms and legs, and the sizzling sound, and smell, of his own flesh burning ….

No! He didn't have time for this. This was not about him. This was about Danny! Suddenly, he knew why the bull had been so enraged as to run out of the shed and viciously attack the first object in its path – but it shouldn't have been Danny. In his unusually happy mood, Danny had taken point and waltzed, unsuspecting, right into an ambush. Pure and simply, he was heartbreakingly sure Danny was not the intended target – he was.

Never meeting his teammates' eyes, but with disgust and anguish dripping from his voice, Steve announced his opinion of what had happened in the barn, "Someone, probably our cowboy, was hiding here, waiting for us to arrive. When Danny went into the barn, he zapped the bull with a full charge on the cattle prod, fully expecting the beast to rage and trample whoever was in its way. This…this was no accident."

Steve could feel the trickle of tears starting down his cheeks, while a ragged sigh was audibly apparent. He couldn't… he just couldn't let his friends see his sorrow now. He needed to stay strong, get the job done and bring his brother to safety. Spinning around on his heels, Steve stormed back out into the gathering darkness. There had to be a clue somewhere to guide him to his injured partner.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++H50H50H50H50++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Excruciating, mind-blowing misery emanating from every aspect of his being, forced Danny to awaken with a scream, followed by a wracking shudder of an exhaled cough. Arching his back involuntarily, he tried his best to crawl out of his skin. He was on fire, and there was no help for it. "Oh,God! Please! I can't …breathe!" Danny was overwhelmed with the pain. Never had he experienced anything like this. Not when he'd been buried alive, and ended up with a tie rod embedded in his side, not when Amber's ex had attacked him with a knife and given him a matching scar to the one from the rebar, and certainly not when he'd been shot.

A pair of hands roughly held Danny down so that he couldn't hurt himself any worse that he was. He felt his face being wiped with a cloth, and a voice close by telling him to be quiet.

"Steve?" Danny tried to open his eyes, but his lids were just too heavy. He didn't think the voice was Steve, though, so who was with him? Suddenly the fire in his body turned to ice, and he was unbelievably cold! He was too tired, and he hurt just too much, to care who was tending to him. He drifted off again into oblivion as another wave of pain erupted in his side.

"You have to slow down! Every bump you barrel over is closer to killing him!" Ayden screamed at Diego, who was sparing no change in his flight to get to the hunting cabin, tucked away a couple miles across the crater from the pasture they had vacated.

Paolo leaned over the seat to evaluate the injured man. "Maybe better now than later, Paniolo! He's gonna be begging to be put out of his misery when the infection catches hold!"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++H50H50H50H50+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The torturous ride across the deep, hard ruts that marked a trail of sorts into the hunting reserves of the Haleakala Crater ended abruptly with the ATV bouncing into a suddenly revealed clearing. Trees and brush had very recently been cut down, making a 50 foot swatch of open space littered with hacked branches and roots of the native flora. As the ATV skidded to a stop, Ayden found himself peering out of the back end of the vehicle at an old, plywood-sided shack, complete with a corrugated tin door, and a small, single-paned window, set into each of the cabin's sides. It appeared that the south side of the shack was a solid wall backed up against tall brush. The site was an abandoned hunting cabin, built for hunters to sit inside, waiting for wild boar, or axis deer, to wander into range. It looked forgotten - moldy and decayed, and Ayden shivered with thoughts of what Montoya's two henchmen had planned for him and Detective Williams within those walls.

Just as Ayden was pondering his fate, the door scraped open, and two more Latino men appeared in the doorway.

"Everything's set here. Is it a go?" The smaller of the two men, holding a satellite phone in one hand queried, while curiously observing the stricken man in the back of the ATV. Pointing to Danny, he continued, "He alive? Montoya wants an update."

"Everything's just peachy, isn't it, hijo? Diego sneered at Ayden as he extricated himself from the ATV. Pointing to the larger of the new reinforcements, he barked an order, "Get him inside. You," Diego caught the attention of the phone-wielding henchman by pointing his rifle in the man's direction, and emitting a cocky chuckle, "tell the Boss we're just waiting for company. Keep hidden in the brush behind the shack, on the small chance I might need back up."

Ayden helped the nondescript, and silent, goon transfer the still unconscious detective to the interior of the shack, laying him out on the dirty, mildewed mattress placed haphazardly on the floor, with the minimum of jolting. Even with the care taken, it was obvious the man was in dire straits. A low, guttural moan now escaped his lips with almost every labored breath. His frame shivered uncontrollably even though a sheet of sweat covered his face and chest, and fresh blood re-stained the already bloodied tee shirt covering the open wounds.

Ayden was scared. He was sure he'd never seen a person this sick before, and he didn't know what to do to help him. Besides which, Diego seemed to be a hair's breadth away from completely losing his composure. As self-assured as he had appeared to be when they first arrived at the cabin, he was now on edge, angrily pushing the more mellow Paolo around the single room, moving furniture out of the way to open up floor space, turning an old kitchen cupboard sideways to create protection from flying bullets, breaking a hole in each of the windows, and - most upsetting to Ayden - pulling a stash of four semi-automatic rifles out from under the bed. Ayden watched in disbelief as Diego loaded each gun, and set one by each window ledge.

Catching Ayden staring at the hardware, Paolo slapped him hard on the side of the head with the palm of his hand. "Don't think about doing anything brave, Compadre. Diego will riddle your sorry ass faster than you can hop on one foot. Just give him a reason!"

"Why…why are we here? What are you going to do with us?" Ayden choked out. He was shaking so hard now he could hear his teeth chatter in his skull when he tried to talk. His head throbbed where he'd been hit with the shovel. He was sweating, but he felt cold, and he was more afraid than he'd ever been in his young life. He had been completely bowled over by the appearance of two more of Montoya's henchmen, realizing Montoya had never intended to "help" him, only to let him take the fall for killing the Five-0 officers, or if that failed, to do away with him as well.

Paolo shrugged, tossing Ayden a bottle of water, "Don't worry about it. Just fix that guy up, or shut him up! We're gonna be here awhile. Montoya wants us to be sure and finish off the whole Five-0 team."

Turning around in time to see Ayden's stunned expression, Diego smiled a wide, toothy grin, although it did nothing to improve his countenance. His bald head and thick neck were encircled with tattoos, while his ears held large, round, black discs stretching the skin and cartilage of the lobes. He wheezed out a smoker's cough along with biting sarcasm, "Yeah, that's the plan, hijo! We set up a trap! Make it look like one of them has an "accidental" encounter with a bull - didn't matter which one, either one would do - then the other has to go back to get help – as well as the rest of his team – leading them here to our little surprise. We should have left enough crumbs for Hansel and Gretel to find their way here; then the fireworks start and the Governor's very special task force is finished!" Hefting one of the loaded rifles, Diego patted the gun's barrel, "All we have to do now is to wait for the party to start."

Diego sidled up to Ayden, stroking the side of his face with his gun. He tried to shrink away from the touch, but Diego grabbed his neck by one huge, roughened hand and shoved the gun barrel tightly under the boy's chin. "As far as you're concerned, if you can keep the cop alive long enough for his buddies to show up, I'll kill you fast and painlessly. If he dies, I toss you out the door and tell McGarrett you killed his cop buddy!"

Ayden was thrown down hard onto the wood flooring alongside the mattress. Diego, having lost interest in the cowboy, turned his attention back to the window facing the approach into the clearing.

Tears welled up in the young man's eyes. Bile rose in his throat as palpable fear overtook his body. He laid his head on his arms as he leaned onto the mattress, beside himself with panic, his body trembling helplessly. Slowly, Ayden became aware of a light rap on his arm, then a second tap, a little more insistent this time. Ayden finally made the laborious effort to raise his head and looked up into heavily hooded, light blue orbs, glassy with pain, but aware and intelligent.

"Shhhh…don't talk. I … heard enough. Are you … okay?" The officer actually attempted to smile at Ayden. It was more of a grimace as the man tried to clear his throat, leading into a wet, pain-wracked cough. Instantly, Ayden grabbed the bottle of water that had landed on the floor earlier and tried to get some liquid past Detective Williams' clenched lips.

"No. Just … pour some …on a cloth… Couple … drops… at a time…," Danny coached Ayden. Having a lot more First Aid experience than the younger man, thanks to his gung ho partner's frequent need for patching, Danny knew he had injuries to his torso, and was in shock. Consuming large amounts of water, even though his body craved it, would not be good.

Ayden did as he was told, ripping a swatch of his shirt off, balling it up and saturating it with water. He dripped some over Danny's parched lips, and then used the cloth to wipe dried blood, dirt and sweat from his face and arms. He could see the officer's chest heaving laboriously with each breath.

"I'm so sorry. I … I didn't know what Montoya planned. I just thought I was gonna make some fast bucks smuggling weed out of Maui! I'm sorry!" Tears started streaming down Ayden's face as he spilled his apologies to a beleaguered Danny.

"Wait…what? Weed…drugs? How…oh, that…damn…cow," Danny finally understood what had happened. At least, he had an idea how the sick cow fit into the picture. But…why did Ayden lead Steve and him to the barn? Obviously, it was not to talk to the old rancher.

Danny's short period of lucidity was quickly waning. His head was getting fuzzy again amid waves of nausea, and spikes of red hot pain emanating from his belly. The edges of his vision diminished into pinpricks while the will to simply breathe was taking away any ability he had to think clearly. But he had heard enough of Diego's rant to understand that somehow Five-0 had gotten caught up in some drug scheme gone south, and were now about to pay the price for the governor's decision to drop the ball into their park. He didn't need to waste precious breath to know instinctively that Steve, Chin, and Kono would soon find the shack, and he feared that in their haste to get to him, they would let down their guard and walk into another trap. After all, Steve didn't have his "back up" with him this time.

Scrabbling to get a hold on Ayden's shoulder, Danny tried to convey to the younger man just how dire their situation was. Forcing what was left of his reserve strength to see him through, and banking on the willingness of the boy to right the wrong he'd done to place the detective in this current situation, Danny pulled the boy's head down to his lips and whispered, "Aikau, my team will come…they'll get us out of … of this. Trust me…but you have … have to …help…them," and with that last immense effort to grind the words out, knowing it wasn't nearly enough but all there was, Danny simply lost the ability to fight oblivion any longer. He dropped his hold on Ayden, exhaled a wispy, soft breath, and lapsed back into a pain-wracked unconsciousness.

Ayden desperately tried to shake Detective Williams back awake, silently crying out, "No! Don't leave me alone! I don't know what to do! What do you want me to do?" Looking wildly around for a way out of this situation, the boy's eye caught the faint gleam of metal peeking out from underneath the corner of the man's shirt. Shell shocked from everything that had recently transpired, Ayden could do little more than stare at it. He remembered the gun he'd felt earlier, but he was too frightened to touch it, afraid that Diego or Paolo would find it on him and kill him outright.

"I won't do anything to make them mad at me. I'll just ride this out. It's not me they really want it's the Five-0 team. When they get them, they'll let me go." With those delusional thoughts running through his overwrought brain, a brain that was also suffering from a shovel-induced concussion, Ayden plopped back down onto the floor, drew his knees up to his chin, and wrapped his arms around his legs. He laid his throbbing head, and tear-stained face, on his knees and allowed himself to shut down.


	11. Chapter 11

Friday, 6:15pm, Harris Ranch pasture

It was getting dark. The temperature, although never usually shifting more than a couple of degrees between day and night, was dropping further this evening due to an oppressive fog settling in. The cold moisture depressed the recovery party even further as they continued to search for some sign as to how Danny had disappeared.

Steve grimly reconnoitered around the area of Danny's horrific bull encounter. In his mind's eye, his best friend was once again being tossed into the air on the end of the tan-colored bull's two-foot long horn. He heard the angry bellow of the beast, and felt Danny's bone-crunching contact with the ground, himself. He'd seen the injuries. He knew his friend wasn't walking away from that field.

He was lost amid the tormented self-loathing that he was putting himself through at the moment. It was just not acceptable that he had not foreseen this turn of events. He should have taken into account the possibility that the bull encounter was not an accident. In his jumbled thinking he was at the place where he actually thought he should have been able to stop this catastrophe from happening to his partner. A thought he knew, deep down, was wrong. Would Danny blame him? No, he wouldn't, but he should.

What was wrong with him these days? He just couldn't seem to focus on the present, his mind always wavering between the here and now, and everything in his past, pushing on him to constantly relive the suffering and betrayal his own mother had handed to him. "Please let Danny be okay. I know I've pushed him away, and I know its hurt him. Please let me get to him in time. I have to fix this between us."

He could do little more at that point than stare hard at the disturbed area in front of him, thoughts of cattle prods and feelings of loss almost completely overwhelming him. Suddenly, his forehead creased into weary frown lines. Lightly brushing some of the chaff off the ground, he spotted boot prints. More than one set, and they were on top of the bull's hoof prints, which must mean they were made after the bull had cantankerously departed.

Brushing aside his deep-seated sense of failure, and remorse, and filing it away for re-examination at a later date, Steve returned to the present. Wondering what the prints might tell him, he started looking further outside the immediate trampled space. He found a set of tire tracks, four tires closely spaced together, too close for a pickup, or SUV, but in line with the chassis of a four wheeled ATV. As he scanned the direction the tracks took, he realized the ATV had sunk deeper into the dry top layer of dirt on its way out of the field than it had on its approach. Although the top soil was dry, underneath the crust the ground was damp and easily tamped down by a heavy weight.

Calling to Chin and Kono, Steve allowed himself his first small sense of good fortune. "I've found tracks leading out of the pasture. It looks as if Danny's been taken off somewhere. We've got something to follow, at least."

It was an easy leap for Steve to quickly realize his second piece of luck. Remembering what he had left with Danny before he went for help, he got on his knees and searched the remaining straw in front of the shed's entrance.

Kono was perplexed. She and Chin had bagged the cattle prod, and a shovel with mysterious dried blood found in the further reaches of the shed. Upon handing the evidence off to the Medivac nurse to put into the helicopter, Kono looked up to find Steve literally on the ground turning over, and then discarding bunches of straw. "What are you doing, Boss? What are you looking for?"

"His gun."

Steve actually had a thin-lipped grin on his face as he looked up into Chin and Kono's troubled eyes. "I tucked Danny's gun into the waistband of his pants before I left him. It's not here. Our boy might have some protection with him after all. Let's go bring him home."

H

5

0

Friday, 7:30pm Haleakala Crater Hunting Reserve, Mau'i

It was pitch dark by the time Steve, Chin, and Kono had traversed the extent of the trail the four wheeled ATV had forged through the thick undergrowth. Steve had sent the chopper back to the ranch HQ with instructions to remain on standby in order to get airborne once the team had found, and rescued, their team mate. Chin had used the satellite phone to call for back up to be ready for instructions as well, but without knowing what they would be facing up ahead, Steve did not want any more than his own team's safety to have to worry about.

Now, Steve signed for Chin and Kono to stop their forward progress. Up ahead, in what appeared to be a newly swathed clearing, a sickly yellow light emanated from several small windows in what could only be described as a cabin in dire need of being burned down.

Chin and Kono crept up alongside their boss' position. Off to the right of the cabin, parked in plain sight under the light leaking from the north facing window, was the red Polaris ATV that had undoubtedly blazed the trail from the pasture to this location. There was little doubt Danny was inside, but Chin and Kono nervously glanced at each other, wondering what was going through Steve's head. He looked calm enough, but they could tell he had moved into SEAL mode, scanning the surrounding area in a robotic manner, visually taking in all the pertinent information he could read, and mentally marking all points of entry and egress, as well as hiding places. Determination was written all over his face. He was not coming out of this without his partner in tow.

"Boss?" Quietly, Kono got Steve's attention with a light hand to his shoulder. She was surprised by the tight bunch of muscles under his skin, the slight shudder of shock from her touch, the low grunt of exhaled air barely acknowledging her presence. Looking quickly towards Chin, she raised her eyebrows slightly to communicate to her cousin just how much stress the Five-0 leader was experiencing.

"Steve, how do you want to do this?" Chin took over from Kono.

"I'm going in – you and Kono cover me." Steve started to move in preparation for barreling head first into the clearing, but was quickly pulled down by a strong set of arms wrapping themselves around his legs. Chin had been expecting such a move, and was ready to protect his friend from an obviously suicidal move.

Impatiently whipping around to face his remaining team, Steve viciously lashed out with his tongue, "What do you think you're doing? Danny is in there, he needs me to get him out! I have…"

"No, Steve, think a minute," Chin begged. "This is a set up. You know that. Danny was taken from that field to this isolated spot to lure the rest of us here. The cabin is lit up like a beacon, and the ATV is parked in plain sight. Whoever has him, wants Five-0 all together to take us out in one spectacular move. If you barge into that clearing without a plan, except to tear down that door and get to Danny, you'll play right into their hands. Then you, Kono, me AND Danny will all be dead in a heartbeat."

Steve stared long and hard at Chin's set jaw. He shifted his gaze to Kono, allowing himself to almost, but not quite, lose himself in huge, liquid black eyes filled with compassion. Sighing deeply, he reached out and grabbed both Chin and Kono's arms, acknowledging Chin's voice of reason.

"I'm sorry, I know Danny means as much to the both of you as he does to me, but I let him down back there in the field. I let him walk into that barn first, and then I left him alone in a fucking cow pasture! I really don't care what happens to me, but I promise I will never willingly put my team in undue harm's way. You guys are all I have, my family." Emotions of sadness and heartache echoed noticeably in Steve's quiet voice.

Kono wanted to wrap her arms around her beloved boss to ease some of his pain, but she knew it wasn't the time. They needed to stay strong, and sharp, and get this rescue mission over with. There would be time later to come to terms with what had happened today. At least, she prayed that would be true.

"Let's bring him home, Steve, but let's be smart about it. You know that's what Danny would be telling you now," Chin smiled sadly at Steve as his friend half-nodded.

"Okay, new plan. Chin, take the west side, Kono, go east. Find a hidden position and keep your weapons trained on the window in your line of vision. We have no idea where Danny is inside, so we can't go in guns blazing. I have to get inside to see how Danny is and where he's located. I'm going to bet that they want more than just me in their trap, so don't give away your position until my sign."

"On it, Boss."

"Be careful, Steve."

A small smile flitted over Steve's countenance as his teammates moved off to find their positions.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go - SuperSEAL to the rescue, but, who's going to rescue SuperSEAL?

Friday, 7:45pm, Haleakala Crater Hunting Reserve, Mau'i

"They're here." Paolo breathed excitedly. The man was shorter than his nastier companion, more compact, but just as solid. He sported a full head of lustrous black hair, slicked back with enough pomade to make a certain blonde detective just a little jealous, if he wasn't so completely out of it at the moment. The man's black mustache covered his entire upper lip, and the tips hung down to his chin, ending in a twist to the side, giving him rather a "Che Guevara" look. His dark eyes were currently glued to the area immediately in front of the door of the cabin.

"I see someone standing on the edge of the clearing. What's he…? He's taking off his vest and his gun holster!"

"Get ready, boys, the party's about to start," Diego chuckled while training his gun sights on the dark haired man, swimmingly visible in the fog-shrouded clearing by way of the dim light from the cabin. "I think he wants to talk!"

"It could be a diversion," Paolo whispered back. "He can't be alone out there."

"No, he wants to see if his buddy's still alive." Diego glanced over to the flea bitten mattress, and saw the labored rise and fall of the cop's chest. "Good job, little hijo," he directed his words toward a suddenly fully awake Ayden. You get to die fast, maybe even first!"

"Hello the cabin. This is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, Five-0. Drop your weapons and come out in the open with your hands in the air."

Steve was acknowledged with a bullet digging into the ground a foot in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hello, Commander! Welcome! Nice try! I suppose you want to see your little buddy? Better hurry on in, he doesn't look like he's got much time left before meeting his maker," bellowed the hidden voice inside the cabin.

Steve gritted his teeth, locking his jaw in an uncomfortable position meant to help remind him to keep his composure, even though all he wanted to do was tear the face behind that disembodied voice to shreds. He had to get into that shack and find out just what he was up against. Raising his arms high, he slowly approached the building. As he got close, the metal door suddenly opened, while at the same time the light inside was extinguished.

Stopping just outside the door, Steve contemplated his next move, deciding to go along with the voice, at least until he got inside the cabin.

"Don't be shy, Commander. Your friend can't wait forever, now, can he?" The floating voice continued to taunt Steve.

Knowing that Chin and Kono had his back, for all the good it would do once he was inside, Steve took the single step through the entry, disappearing into the darkened enclosure.

_H50H50H50_

No sooner had Steve cleared the threshold into the black-as-night room than he was grabbed around the neck and shoved to the floor on his knees, his head firmly locked in place against his assailant's hip. He heard the screech of the metal door scraping the floor as it was kicked shut behind him, and felt the air explode out of his lungs as a rifle butt connected squarely with a kidney.

The pain meant nothing to him. He could and would endure ten times worse to get to his partner's side, but Steve couldn't immediately see where Danny was, as his eyes required some adjustment to the darkness. Then he heard it, the rattling, raspy breaths emanating from low down in the east corner of the cabin. That's all he needed to know, nothing else mattered. His brother was alive.

"Let me go to my partner," Steve growled while he gulped down what little air was getting by his closed off windpipe into his lungs.

Diego snickered harshly, reveling in his glory to hold this much power over a supposedly omnipotent cop.

"What's the matter, McGarrett? Are you sniveling over that wasted piece of meat in the corner? The bull made short change of him. He's not worth your breath. Too bad he's the one who stepped into the barn, though. You're the one 'Ferdinand the Bull' was supposed to do a number on. You were lucky then, but you should be worrying about your own hide and your buddies out there in the brush, now. Why don't you call them in and we can get this over with?"

The vaingloriously smug tone of his captor's voice pushed Steve over the edge. He'd had enough of this shit, and it was time to move. He hoped Chin and Kono had gotten into position to take action from his cue, but it really didn't matter, because he was ending this now. He knew there were at least two assailants in the cabin – the one that currently had him in a headlock, and another somewhere behind him, who had delivered the jab to his kidney. Quickly evaluating his chances, Steve felt a positive outcome was at least 30/70 in his favor. He was good with that. Actually, he would go even if the odds were 99 to 1 against him.

Steve fine-tuned his keen sense of hearing to locate the one not holding him in a head lock, as behind and slightly to the right of his position. Clearing his mind, he went into autopilot, instinctively pulling from the recesses of his brain, the correct course of action drilled into him at Coronado eons ago.

Acting with swift intent, Steve grasped his assailant's wrist and forearm with both his hands, and pulled down hard, clearing his airway. Taking a huge gulp of air, he tucked his chin down and away from the man's grip, and wrapped his right arm around the other man's waist. Stepping up and away, he swept his foot against the leg and pushed off from the surprised man's chest, lifting him up off the floor, and then slamming him back down, completely stunning the arrogant son of a bitch.

A split second later, Steve twirled on the second goon, catching him off guard by the suddenness of the attack. A single roundhouse kick to the head had him down and out for the count, but then, Steve's luck ran out. Just as he lurched to the wall by the door to find and flip the light switch, he was tackled from behind once again. Obviously, he had miscalculated. There was a third person in the cabin who was no friend to McGarrett's cause.

-H50H50H50-

Ayden had made him self as small as possible after Paolo alerted Diego of the rest of the Five-0 team's arrival. He sat alongside the mattress, his eyes trained on the two men holding Commander McGarrett at bay outside.

"No, no, no. This is not good." Ayden silently prayed the Commander wouldn't start shooting at the cabin, as he had no place to hide from cascading bullets! He shrank back further when Diego killed the light in the room, and overwhelmed the Commander as he crossed over the entryway.

It was hard for the scared young man to see, let alone process, what happened next. Without light in the room, all he could make out were shadows. One minute the Commander was in an apparently inescapable chokehold, begging Diego to let him go to his partner, and the next, the sound of a violent scuffle flooded Ayden's ears. He was flabbergasted when McGarrett turned on the overhead light, and he saw Diego and Paolo both flat on their backs on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he spotted movement. The silent partner, who had remained unnoticed in the far corner of the room, was instantly on McGarrett, pulling the Commander back away from the door, and holding a rifle barrel directly in his face.

Ayden sprang to life. What Danny had tried so hard to impress upon him had finally sunk in – Five-0 would come to their aid, but he would have to help them! In a cowboy's fluid movement, Ayden flung himself at the silent beast of a man, trying to wrestle the rifle out of his hands. Of course, he was no match for the much larger man, and was tossed aside like a broken toy. Still, the distraction gave the Commander the opportunity to kick the thug in the gut and send him flying backwards into the cabinet alongside the stove. Steve moved in for the final take down.

-H50H50H50-

In the thirty seconds it took for all that to transpire, Chin and Kono had advanced on the cabin, guns drawn. Hearing the ruckus from the fighting inside, Chin motioned Kono to be ready. Just as he positioned himself to kick in the door, a single shot rang out from inside the cabin, followed by complete and total silence.

-H50H50H50-

He was enveloped in a cocoon, gently floating in a warm, safe sea of liquid. Nothing touched him, nothing hurt him. He was at peace and all was blissfully right as his mortal world seemed to be slipping farther away from his consciousness. But…something was changing…sounds from outside his safe little cocoon were starting to tear the fabric apart, and force their way inside. Self awareness slowly started to return, and with it, he felt his sense of well-being cruelly wrenched away from him. Amid the rising levels of pain starting to wrack what must be his body, unwelcome feelings of being trapped, of being incapable of escaping the too tight bubble that moments before was a safe haven, gripped him hard. "Not good. Where the heck am I? Why can't I move? Need to get out. I really can't deal with tight dark places…"

Overwhelming panic was about to take command of his mind when somewhere in the distance he heard a voice, as if coming from down a very long, echoing hallway. It was familiar, and yet, not. The voice was rough, loud, and with a frantic sense of urgency that confused him since it was not the way he remembered this voice to sound. It was too brief, but that was okay. He could feel it pulling him back to what mattered, to the unfinished life still before him, all he had to do was grab on, and he'd be out of this dark prison.

Danny reached toward that voice of security, the voice of his partner. Steve was here with him. He opened his eyes…

Full awareness brought Danny back to the present just in time to see his partner easily manage to land a solid kick squarely to the gut of a giant, propelling said giant into the kitchen cabinet. Danny almost heard the air blast out of the suddenly subdued Braddah's lungs as all fight fled his body, and he sunk like a rock to the floor.

Movement, to the left, another huge person ("why are all these people so big?") struggling to his feet, rifle in hand. "Steve! Gun! He's not secured!" Danny could have sworn he was shouting at the top of his lungs, as he could hear his words rattling around in his brain, but Steve never acknowledged him. He had to do something though, as his partner was about to be shot in the back.

In his attempt to make his presence known to Steve, he moved enough to roll onto something hard underneath his body. His feeble change of position ratcheted up the pain to a nearly intolerable level, his vision wavering in and out of focus, but the reality of the hurt awoke all his senses, making him aware of the godsend still tucked in his waistband.

In what felt like slow motion to him, Danny reached for the weapon, and just as the one called "Diego" was about to fire at an unsuspecting Steve, Danny struggled to raise his torso off the mattress, aimed his service revolver, and pulled the trigger.

-H50H50H50-

Steve spun around at the resounding boom of a gun discharging in close quarters, in time to see Diego smack the floor face down, unmoving, a lethal bullet hole neatly placed in the middle of the man's spine. McGarrett looked up then, directly into Danny's murky, pain-filled blue eyes. The two partners were seared together as one in that moment in time, each silently acknowledging his security in the presence of the other, knowing one would move heaven and earth to always have the other's back.

Then the light went out in Danny's eyes, and he fell back onto the mattress, his gun falling sharply out of his suddenly lifeless hand, to clatter to the floor.

"Danny!' Steve covered the distance between them in a giant leap. "Danny, I'm here, buddy. It's over. We're going home." Fumbling with his suddenly useless fingers, Steve fearfully sought for a carotid pulse. It was there, but almost too subtle to find. Nonplussed by the heat radiating off of Danny's skin, Steve knew they were in deep trouble. Infection had already settled in, and there was nothing to be done for it until they got Danny to the hospital.

"Kono, call it in! We've got to get him out of here as fast as we can!"

Kono and Chin had burst through the door, weapons poised to fire at any sign of conflict, a hairsbreadth of a second after Danny had saved his partner's life. Chin proceeded to handcuff those still breathing, including a sobbing, but apparently unhurt, Ayden Aikau.

"Is … is he alright?"

"You better start praying he makes it, brah. If he dies, I sincerely doubt you'll make it to trial. That woman over there," Chin fiercely pointed to Kono as she made the all clear call, "will chew you up and spit you out like the worm you are, and that man there, will snap your neck like a toothpick. I'll just shoot you in the face and call it good."

Ayden dropped his chin to his chest. The mess he had gotten himself into, all for the promise of fast cash to buy a horse, had gone so far south he didn't see any way to ever find daylight again. His head hurt something terrible. How did life become so unfair? He was starting to feel queasy and the room was shifting wildly on its axis.

"I didn't realize, you know." Ayden conversationally started talking. "I was only supposed to get Commander McGarrett up to that pasture. I didn't know what Mr. Montoya had planned. That one," Ayden pointed his head towards Diego's body, "knocked me out when I got to the calf shed, and I didn't even see what happened to Detective Williams."

Chin merely humphed while Ayden continued to jabber away, "I held the detective's head when we bounced across the ruts, I could tell it hurt him. He… he told me to pour some water on my shirt and drip it into his mouth. Have you ever done that? I've never heard of it before. He was nice." Ayden smiled happily as he remembered helping Danny earlier.

Steve angrily swung away from ministering to Danny to glare at Ayden. "Shut him up, Chin. We don't need this now."

"You better be quiet," Chin looked into Ayden's eyes as he tried to connect with the confused young man. He could see signs of shock and a probable concussion from the head wound.

"Steve, he's going to need medical attention, too. Concussion, at the very least."

"I knew I should do something, but what could I do against four guys?" Ayden pleaded for Chin's understanding, his mood suddenly shifting from happy to fearful.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Nothing you could do," Chin was trying to calm the young man's agitation when Ayden's words suddenly sunk in. "Four? Ayden, did you say four men?"

Bemused, Ayden looked around the room, as if looking for something important, before continuing, "Uh huh. Diego told the man with the phone to stay outside and be… um…back up?"

Simultaneously jumping up and unslinging his shotgun, Chin shouted to Steve and Kono, "We've got trouble! There were four perps, one stayed outside, and he had a phone!"

"Damn it," roared Steve as he heard the first bullet break through the glass windowpane above Danny's head. Throwing his body over Danny's, he yelled at the rest of his team to take cover. "Stupid! So stupid! I didn't think beyond getting to Danny. Now we're the ones holed up in this shack and we don't know how much fire power we're up against. All, my, fault."

"Yes, Steven. Even when I'm out of it, you are still getting me shot at! Now, get over your self-throttling, and finish this. I want to go home." Danny's voice in his brain, stridently reminding him that he had a mission to finish, spurred Steve into action.

The Five-0 team, all together again, even though one could not realistically be considered in the fight, reached positions at each window, and started returning fire.


	13. Chapter 13

!

CHAPTER 12

Friday, 8:30pm, Haleakala Crater Hunting Reserve, Mau'i

"Commander, the Medevac is waiting in the field. There is no place closer to land. We have to take Detective Williams back to the copter on the Polaris."

Steve ran his hands through his hair. Could anything else possibly go wrong today? They had managed to hold out in the shack, without injury, until the cavalry arrived in the form of the backup officers, and sheriff deputies, on more ATVs. The last cartel employee was taken out in the process, and the area had finally been cleared for EMT entry.

Hannah, the pretty EMT Steve had promised to bring back for Danny, had finished her preliminary evaluation. It was not good. She was afraid that way too much time had elapsed between his initial goring, and the present. Blood loss had been heavy, although it had been stemmed by the Commander's tee shirt. Still, when she removed the wad of bloody cloth to check the abdominal wound, she found that a small portion of bowel was protruding. Looking up from her ministrations she met the eyes of the stricken Five-0 commander. He was holding his partner's head in his lap, gently stroking the still man's sweaty, lax face. She could tell he knew it was life threatening. She felt his fear, and dread. Although she was not sure if her patient would ever make it to the hospital, Hannah gave the commander as reassuring a smile as she could muster. She placed a pressure bandage over the wound site as quickly as possible.

Moving up to the second gash on the officer's chest, she palpated around the wound, and felt movement from broken ribs, at least two. The wound itself did not appear to be as deep as the abdominal wound. She didn't think the bull's horn had struck the lung, since the detective would have drowned in his own blood by now, but his lung sounds still hinted that the right lung had collapsed. He was certainly in respiratory distress, and she had placed an oxygen mask on his face to aid his breathing. But her biggest concern was the obvious fact that infection had already set in, and was starting to rage through the detective's body. Knowing an IV of fluids would not be smart with probable abdominal cavity injuries, Hannah simply packaged her charge for transport, hoping desperately that she could keep Detective Williams alive, long enough to pass him off to the doctors at Maui Med.

H50H50H50

It was a frantic race back across the rough ground, Steve holding Danny as tightly as possible to keep the jostling to a minimum. There was no way to avoid all of the ruts in the hard packed dirt, and Danny cried out as they hit particularly bad ones. "Shit, Danny, I'm sorry," was softly voiced more than once.

The Polaris burst through the brush onto the field by way of the back gate. Steve circled his arm in the air to signal the copter pilot to rev the engines. With the ATV screeching to a stop alongside the open door, Steve lifted Danny's limp form into the waiting arms of two more EMTs. Hannah jumped up inside as well, shouting vitals and orders to her partners. Time was of the essence, now, and they needed to get in the air.

As the Commander started to climb aboard, one of the other EMTs stopped him. "There's no room for you, Sir! Too much weight!"

"No! You don't understand. I have to be with him. He has to know I'm here with…" Steve couldn't bear the thought of his partner flying off without him. It was just too much! He'd left him alone already and just couldn't do that again. The heartache and stress of the day was literally bowling him over.

Hannah had experienced the commander's concern and gentle care given to his teammate, earlier at the cabin. This man needed to be with his partner. Whether his presence would ever be felt, or acknowledged, by the man lying on the stretcher, the former Army nurse understood and respected the bond that must be present between these two men. She had seen similar bonding in her tours overseas, and she knew that even if the stricken officer did not survive, it was vital to the healing of the partner left behind that he be by his side now. Turning to one of the two EMTs securing Danny into the copter, Hannah spoke over the roar of the engines, "Tay, I need you to wait for the second patient to be transported here. He's showing signs of disorientation from a severe blow to the head. Commander McGarrett, there's room for you now. Please hurry!"

Offering her a look of pure gratitude, Steve climbed into the copter and found a spot to sit near Danny's head for the duration of the ride.

H50.H50.H50.

Friday, 10:30pm, Mau'i Memorial Medical Center, Wailuku, Mau'i

Kono and Chin found Steve in the emergency waiting room at Mau'i Memorial Medical Center, sitting in a straight backed, uncomfortable metal chair. His dirt and blood encrusted arms rested on his knees, while his head was turned to the window, his gaze locked on the darkened view of Haleakala Crater in the distance. The cousins approached with trepidation, fear mounting in their hearts as their boss and friend remained unaware of their presence. He looked lost, but more than that, he looked diminished, as if something huge that normally filled up his being had leaked out.

Chin lowered himself to Steve's level, covering the man's hands gently with his own, he spoke quietly so as not to startle his friend, "Steve, what's happening? Where is Danny?"

It took a minute for Steve's response. He continued to stare out the window at the night lights sparkling around the base of the crater. "How did this happen, Chin? It was the start of the weekend! I was going on a training mission, and Danny was going to chill in front of the TV!" His voice lowered even more to a barely audible whisper, "He flat lined in flight. They got him back but…I don't know." Steve finally raised his red rimmed eyes to look from one to the other of the cousins. Nodding more to himself than to either Kono or Chin, Steve continued, "I made him come. He didn't want to. He thought the Governor was nuts for wanting Five-0 to investigate a dead cow. He was right, of course, but I bribed him with a free trip to Maui," Steve's voice caught with a hitch. "God, it's, all, my, fault." Distraught, Steve hid his face in his hands as his chest started to heave.

Kono couldn't hold it in a moment longer herself. Sinking into the empty chair alongside the one person she never expected to see fall apart so completely, she tightly wrapped her arms around Steve's shoulders and pulled his head into her lap.

Chin sadly looked down at his shoes, remembering all too clearly the night he spent in a hospital waiting room, knowing his beloved Malia was gone from him, but not yet knowing Kono's fate. His anguish was just as real now as it had been then. If Danny didn't survive, neither would this team. Danny, in all his, cantankerous, blowhard, worrisome, ways, was the glue that held them together. Without him, they would just be three lost souls unable, and unwilling to carry on.

He needed to move, find some answers. Leaving Steve and Kono together in the waiting area, Chin went out to find the nurse's station.

It was thirty minutes later when he walked back into the oppressively quiet room with the trauma specialist who had already worked long and hard on Danny. The man was middle-aged, slim, and tall. He obviously worked out, his biceps were strong, and well- developed. His naturally olive complexion was suntanned even darker, an indication that he spent his free time away from the hospital, probably catching a wave. Lines of care, and weariness, were now noticeable in his usually smooth countenance.

In Chin's absence, Steve had returned to staring out the picture window at the night sky. Feeling the subtle change in the air from their entrance, Steve acknowledged the two men's presence by literally exploding out of his chair, startling a dozing Kono.

" Is he alright? Can I see him?"

"Steve, let me first introduce Doctor Alan Peterman, doctor in charge of the trauma unit. Doctor, this is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, head of the Governor's Five-0 task force, and this is our team mate, Officer Kalakaua." Chin placed an anchoring hand firmly on Steve's shoulder as he introduced them.

"Doctor, please, I…we…need to know how Detective Williams is," It was excruciatingly hard for Steve to contain himself, he just wanted to shake the answers he needed out of this doctor that he didn't know. But Chin's fingers were digging deeper into his shoulder and he understood Chin's desire for him to keep it under control. He looked over to see Kono staring at the doctor with a doe in the headlights look. She was scared. Well, hell, so was he.

Taking pity on them, the doctor guided them all back to the wall of chairs and sat, crossing his legs in an attempt to get comfortable. It had been a long, anxiety-filled hour for him, as well. The patient had arrived near the end of his shift, and it had already been a stressful day in the ER. But honestly, he would not have missed this trauma for the life of him. It's not very often a victim of multiple bull goring arrives, alive, in an emergency room. In his 20 plus years of trauma practice, this was his first case of this type, similar to a knife stabbing, but oh so much more complicated.

Drawing in a deep breath, Peterman looked squarely at Commander McGarrett, and exhaled solemnly, "Detective Williams is alive. I don't really know why. Considering his injuries, blood loss and the length of time before treatment of any type, it could very easily have resulted in loss of life before he ever made it here, and it almost did in the helicopter flight to the hospital."

"He has a daughter. He would fight like hell to get back to her," Steve spoke to the floor. A vision of Gracie, smiling happily, all dressed up and dancing with her father at this year's father/daughter dance flooded his mind. "Come on, Danno! Don't leave her alone without her father."

"Ah! Well, it's good to know the Detective is a fighter," the good doctor glanced, kindly, at all three people giving him their undivided attention, "as his injuries, compounded by infection, mean he is by no means out of the woods yet.

"How bad is it, Doctor? Level with us, please."

"Well, there are multiple injuries we need to deal with. Detective Williams has two separate penetrating wounds to his abdomen and his lower chest. Both wounds bled freely, but the Detective's abdomen was rigid and tender, indicating internal bleeding. We did an ultrasonography in the ER to more accurately locate the source of the bleeding, which appears to be in the stomach…"

"What about his liver, or pancreas?"

Dr. Peterman was startled by McGarrett's pertinent question. The man obviously had some medical training to understand the possible internal injuries from this type of trauma.

"I still want to do a CT scan later, but they appear to be undamaged, Commander. Now, as to the second wound, it is shallow, and although two ribs are fractured, and testing did reveal a Pneumothorax, at this point in time I'm not overly worried. Luckily, there is not enough soft tissue in the chest area, and vital organs are more protected by the rib cage, to cause major trauma."

"But, he was having so much trouble breathing?" Steve questioned.

"Certainly – there is some bleeding in the right lung, but for the most part the shallow, rapid breathing was a result of the abdominal blood loss, shock, and the collapsed lung."

Steve raised his head towards the ceiling, one knee bouncing up and down in a staccato cadence as if he needed to keep some part of his body in constant motion. Blowing out the bottled up breath of air he had been holding since the doctor started describing Danny's injuries, he got to his feet and started to leave the room.

"I need to see him."

"Uh…Commander…wait! You can't!" Peterman was stunned by the impulsiveness of the man. One minute he was calmly sitting in the chair taking in the list of injuries to his partner, and the next he was flinging himself out of his seat and walking down the hall to find that same partner.

Running after him, Kono and Chin in tow, the doctor continued to try to get through to the man, "Commander, he is on his way up to surgery. We need to do an exploratory of Detective Williams' abdominal cavity, and we have got to stop the internal bleeding. You can't see him. I'm sorry."

Steve heard the doctor's words, but they just didn't sink in. He needed to see Danny for himself, needed to see he was alive. He continued marching down the corridor until the doctor, a man almost as tall and muscular as himself, grabbed him by the arm and spun him around.

"You can't see him. He's in prep for surgery. Please, Commander, don't make me kick you out."

"No. I have to know…"

Kono squeezed by the doctor and grabbed hold of Steve's arm. She noticed the tightly balled fists, the martial art stance preparatory to a strike. She could see his face muscles contorting, and his jaw working fitfully. Afraid of a forced hospital expulsion becoming a distinct possibility, she turned towards Peterman, pleading to him through her eyes for understanding.

"Is there a waiting area on the surgical floor? Someplace at least, where we can be close to him?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the adrenaline dump and the angst to begin. Hope you enjoy it!

Saturday, 10am – Mau'I Memorial Medical, post op waiting area, Mau'i

The team had moved up a floor to the surgical post op waiting area. MPD officers had come and gone, with updates on the marijuana smuggling case. Chin had left Steve and Kono's side just long enough to check on Ayden Aikau, ensconced elsewhere in the hospital. It seemed the young cowboy had suffered a bleed from a skull fracture, which when coupled with dehydration, caused his strange behavior at the cabin. He was expected to make a complete recovery, although he remained in the hospital for observations, and was sleeping like a baby now, handcuffed to his bedrail.

Kono, though, was afraid to leave her boss´side. She had never seen him this destroyed before, not even after his last battle with Wo Fat. Then, even though he had been horribly tortured and beaten physically, he seemed okay with it all, as if it had been a test of his own resilience, and he had survived it. He seemed to be at peace with his demons, all except for his mother and her part in all his trials and tribulations, but maybe he really wasn't?

Now, his composure was shattered. He was a man crushed by the overwhelming stress of a too long day, and a night consumed with fear, adrenaline, and guilt. His eyes were hooded, unreadable. Something else was going on inside him, an inner turmoil he refused, or was incapable, of sharing. Kono could tell he would not move from that spot, in that waiting room, until he knew that his best friend was going to survive this ordeal, so she became his self appointed bodyguard and go-between.

She fielded MPD questions concerning the Five-0 officer's condition, while graciously accepting condolences and offers of prayers, and assistance, from police officers arriving at the hospital to keep vigil for one of their own. She made the requisite calls to Oahu-to the Governor's office, Kamekona, Duke, and even to Lou on vacation with his family in Chicago. He, of course, offered to catch the next plane back, but Kono tiredly informed him there was nothing he could do just now. She promised to keep him in the loop, all the while keeping her boss squarely in her sights. He had his cell phone out in his hands, but all he seemed to be doing was glare at it.

"I have to call Rachel. She has to know. God, what do I say? 'Well, Rachel, I finally screwed the pooch and this time Danny's going to pay with his life for my mistake? You tell Gracie I'm sorry now, okay?' Just how am I supposed to do this? Later. When I have some answers for them, I'll call." Yeah, he knew he was procrastinating. He couldn't help it. He didn't know how to face Danny's loved ones, and admit he had let his partner down.

Steve started sliding his thumb across the face of his phone. He smiled wistfully at the pictures passing before him of himself, with Danny and Grace, at the beach last weekend. Amber had taken the pictures, and everyone looked so happy, and healthy. "She's good for you, Danny. She's a keeper, buddy!" Suddenly realizing he would have to call her, too, Steve once again lowered his head to his chest and silently prayed for deliverance.

H50H50H50

The morning dragged on. The island sun was beating through the shades of the east-facing windows, fighting off the air conditioning-created arctic chill enveloping the inhabitants of the surgical wing of the regional hospital. The staff had changed shifts five hours before. It was impressive how many people had spent the night, and morning, in the tiny surgical waiting room, and even more baffling, the number of empty coffee cups littering every table surface.

Ten hours after Danny had been whisked into surgery to repair damaged organs, Dr. Peterman walked into the waiting area. He looked around among the throng of officers with MPD and State Department of Livestock badges - Pilipo had arrived at 8 am to help keep vigil - and one HPD sergeant accompanied by a large Samoan in a tee shirt with a picture of his head on a shrimp's body. "Surreal," was Alan Peterman's initial thought, but of course, he had just been through a marathon surgical procedure, so if he thought it strange to see a mountain of a man with a picture of himself as a shrimp on his shirt, then he felt he completely deserved to feel that way.

Peterman noted Commander McGarrett was infinitely slower to rise and face him this morning. The wear and tear on the man's face, and his slumped body language, had Peterman mentally preparing another bed for the Commander. Luckily he had some good news for these people.

"Detective Williams has made it through surgery." There was a collective sigh from the inhabitants of the small room, and some quiet back slapping and smiles all around. "He has a long road to recovery ahead, though, and he is not out of the woods by a long shot. The next forty-eight hours will be crucial."

Peterman silently harrumphed at his last sentence. It seems to be the one phrase every television doctor has said, since time immemorial, to make-believe loved ones sitting in waiting rooms a lot nicer than this stark, drab room. Unfortunately, it was a true statement more times than not.

"Can we see him?" The commander's voice sounded like sandpaper drawn over rough lumber, and strangely it lacked any sense of vitality.

Peterman observed the commander more closely. The man was filthy from head to foot. Mud and manure caked the bottom of his boots, and his cream colored camo pants were torn and covered with mud. His hands and arms were still stained with blood. Obviously, he hadn't taken any time to clean up, probably to eat, either. The doctor made a decision.

"Detective Williams will be in recovery for at least an hour, after which he'll be settled in a cubicle in the surgical ICU. It will be at least two hours before he can have visitors, and even then, he won't be communicating with you. We won't be bringing him out of the medically induced coma, necessary to keep him calm, until he's started healing, possibly this evening but more likely tomorrow. I want you and your team to get out of here and clean up, eat something, and try to get some sleep. Your partner will get the best possible care, I assure you, Commander."

There was something in the doctor's eyes, compassion but also steely resolve to get his way, and after a short stare down, Steve abruptly nodded, turned to Chin and the rest of the entourage, and simply said, "Doc is right, Danny's in good hands. Let's go."

Saturday, 1pm – Old Wailuku Inn, Wailuku, Mau'i

The showers at the Old Wailuku Inn were clean, functional, and welcome. Steve, Kono, and Chin had each partaken in the longest, hottest shower any of them had indulged in for what seemed like ages, and as they sat around the table on the lanai, a strong sense of Ohana embraced the gathered group of friends. Kamekona had rounded up some garlic shrimp from one of his cousins' shrimp truck businesses on the island – not anywhere near as good as his, but edible, at least. Duke had joined the group after interviewing Robert Harris. The rancher was understandably appalled to learn his bull had wreaked such havoc, and that his cows had been pawns in the smuggling operation. The poor man had apparently taken an early flight back from the big island in order to lend any assistance he could to the investigation.

Everyone quietly visited while they ate, but no one broached the subject of the case, or of their missing family member. It was obvious that Steve was physically present, but his mind was locked on other thoughts, mentally miles away.

"I want to get going on this case before I go back to the hospital."

Steve startled everyone with the intensity in his voice. He had been so quiet ever since the doctor had informed them all at the hospital that Danny was out of surgery, but now an undercurrent of anger sizzled close to the surface, and the man couldn't quite keep it under wraps. These people who knew him the best weren't fooled by his outwardly calm demeanor.

"Do we know who was transporting the drugs? Has Aikau given any indication?"

Chin felt the piercing stare his boss was giving him as sharply as if a stake was being driven into his skull.

"Ayden mumbled something about a 'Mr. Montoya' telling him to bring you to the mountain pasture. Maui PD is working to identify this Montoya. So far, nothing has …turned… up… Steve, what is it?"

As Chin had been informing his friend of Ayden's information, he watched Steve's face pale considerably. His features completely shut off, keeping unwanted visitors at bay.

Pushing himself out of his lounge chair, Steve snapped back at Chin, "Nothing's wrong. Go back and talk to Ayden again. He must know more." With that, Steve turned on his heel and marched off the lanai for the parking lot, leaving his Ohana staring, as his hunched back disappeared around the corner of the building.

"Where are you going, Boss?" Kono, her boss' self-appointed keeper, quickly caught up to Steve, trying to keeping pace with him.

"I'm going to the Livestock offices. Nagahara might have some more info on how the marijuana was supposed to make it to the mainland and where it was headed from there."

"Oh, no problem, I can call Pilipo about that from here." Kono had her phone out and was already dialing when she ran right up on her bosses' heels. He had literally stopped in his tracks. She felt the full force of his anger as he turned his head to glare at her, locking her in place. "I have to DO something, Kono. I'm dying here. I can't sit. I can't sleep. I have to move. Now, you can come along if you must, but stay out of my way." With that, a bemused and bewildered Kono was left standing in his dust.

H50H50H50

Pilipo Nagahara soon found himself face to face with a pacing Commander McGarrett. He was not the confident, self-assured man of yesterday. As he paced back and forth in Pilipo's office, the veterinarian had a chance to observe the commander's physical state without being too obvious, and he was shocked at what he saw. The man's demeanor epitomized a sense of loss, a touch of dread, and instability of emotions. Physically, Pilipo wondered how the man was even still standing. His coloring was ashen. Huge blue black circles of crepe –textured skin hung under his eyes, while his face was drawn, and lined with worry. His shoulders were hunched forward, and the vein in his neck was bulging. It was obvious that the tide of events in the last 24 hours had taken its toll on the leader of the Governor's task force.

Pilipo was glad he had something useful to tell the Commander. "We have found five other cows in that shipment showing signs of respiratory distress, Sir. We can only assume, at this point, that they are packed with Cannabis boluses." Handing a document over to McGarrett, Pilipo continued, "Here is the market permit Ayden filed. It shows that the shipment was to be delivered in four days to Samuelson Organic Meats and Poultry, a certified organic ranch in San Juan Bautista, California, via the Matson shipping freighter named the "Barbary Coast."

"Good. We'll take it from here." Steve was briskly turning on his heel to leave when Pilipo stopped him with an audible clearing of his throat.

"Commander, I'm so very sorry your partner was injured. I never should have called the Governor's office without verification of BSE. I just…well…I was too sure of myself. Because of me, you and your partner were not prepared for what happened on the Harris Ranch." Pilipo truly did feel responsible for all of yesterday's events, but he was not expecting Commander McGarrett's reaction.

Steve listened to Pilipo's apology without interruption, but when the young veterinarian finished speaking, he looked him in the eye and said, "None of this is your fault, Doc. I take full responsibility. I looked at this case as a lark, a simple act of a sick cow threatening the livestock economy of the state, and I wasn't concerned enough. There were indications all wasn't as cut and dry as it seemed, but I didn't pay attention to my gut. I didn't take enough precautions, and I'm the only one to blame for what happened to my partner."

Steve was half way to the doctor's door before he turned around, and with sad eyes raised to meet the vet's, a small, curt smile on his lips, addressed the man who reminded him so much of Max, "Thank you for your honesty, Doc, and your concern for my partner. I appreciate it."


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, let's find out the extent of Danny's injuries - oh, and let's wrap this crazy case up, shall we?

Saturday, 12 pm – Residence of Alejandro Montoya, Mau'i

Montoya had his bag packed. He took one last swig from his bottle of Tequila for liquid fortitude, checking yet again to make sure he had his plane ticket for Argentina in his pocket. He was a wreck, in more ways than one. His grand design, to take over drug smuggling on the islands, had gone to hell in a hand basket since the miserable boy had ruined the whole enterprise with the "drug mule" fiasco. His flamboyant plan to rid the criminal side of the islands of this crime task force had failed miserably, permanently terminating the employ of five members of the Carrera Cartel, as well as incurring the wrath of the very task force he had tried to destroy. It was time to get out of Dodge, or in this case, Hawaii. Disappear back into the barrios of Buenos Aires from which he had been spawned. He'd lay low for a year or so then he'd return with a new identity, maybe a new face, too. Everything would be fine eventually, but now he needed to escape before the Cartel could track him down.

Checking his pocket one last time, Montoya opened his garage door to back out his car, and in that instant, his day took an unexpected turn for the worse.

H

5

0

Saturday, 3pm - Mau'i Med, ICU

Steve trudged down the hallway leading to the ICU, a step behind Dr. Peterman. His feet felt like lead, and yet he continually had to fight the urge to run away. The doctor had insisted only one visitor at a time, and although he had tried to have either one of the others go first to see Danny, darned if they didn't push him towards the door.

"You need to see him first, Steve," Chin was unwavering in his insistence, and Steve solemnly followed Dr. Peterman out of the waiting area.

Kono could feel Steve's reluctance, but she couldn't understand it. It was as if Steve wanted to be a hundred, no, more like a thousand miles away from the hospital. Why would he not want to see Danny, now that the doctors had finally decided his condition was stable, and were allowing them in?

"Chin, what's wrong with him?" She was choking back tears, again. God, she'd cried so many times in the last two days she felt as if every drop of moisture in her body had been spent. "He should be thrilled that Danny is doing better, but, he seems scared to see him. I don't get it."

"I don't know either, Kono, but there is definitely something going on, and we both know how Steve internalizes everything." Chin drew Kono into his strong arms, embracing her sorrow and attempting to provide her with his strength.

"Hopefully seeing Danny will fix things."

H50H50H50

"Oh my God, Danny." There was no moving forward. He couldn't breech the threshold to follow Danny's doctor into the cubicle. His feet just wouldn't take him a step closer. He felt the blood rush out of his head to leave him light-headed and dizzy, his stomach roiling with the one or two garlic shrimp Kono had forced him to eat. It took every ounce of courage the SEAL in him could muster, but finally he propelled himself into motion and suddenly there he was, looking down at the unrecognizable figure laying perfectly still before him.

"Danny? Are you in there… somewhere?" It was hard to fathom there was a living person buried under all the tubes, drains and monitors snaking out from under the light blanket tucked tightly across what must be a human form. A ventilator tube was shoved down the throat, and taped across the mouth. The whoosh…whoosh of inhaled and exhaled mechanical breathing regularly proved that oxygen was going in, and carbon dioxide was coming out, but that did little to alleviate Steve's anxiety.

The heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm as well, thanks to the cathodes attached to the man's chest, while an infusion pump dripped continual antibiotics, sedatives, and fluids through an IV catheter in his neck.

Steve was supposed to just take for granted that this form on the bed was his partner? There was a mess of longish blond hair laying helter skelter across the pillow that engulfed what surely had to be his partner's head, but Steve couldn't be sure. The torso was wrapped in rolls of gauze, hiding any possible view of skin. He couldn't see even a glimmer of his brother. There was nothing visible for him to grab onto that felt like Danny. For all he knew, it could just be a dummy, one of those Resusci Anne dolls used to teach CPR and first aid.

"My fault. All, my, damn, fault!"

Steve felt he was about to burst. Strong but surprisingly gentle arms propelled him into a chair that had silently appeared under his backside. "Commander, I know this looks overwhelming at the moment, but your partner is progressing nicely," Dr. Peterman soothingly spoke in Steve's ear. "We repaired the tear to Detective Williams' lung and re-inflated it. That is why he is currently on a respirator, to give his lung a chance to heal. The machine is monitoring his respirations. It'll let us know when he is taking a breath on his own, and then we can take him off the machine and get rid of the tube. We'll wake him up then. The abdominal injury was more severe, and required more surgical intervention, of course. Since Detective Williams'…."

"Danny. His name is, Danny." Steve just had to interrupt Peterman. He needed a second to process the wealth of information dropping into his lap in abundant rapidity. Looking over into the compassionate face of the ICU nurse who had appeared in the cubicle as well, Steve continued, "He would tell you to call him Danny, if he could." The nurse gave him a warm smile and a gentle pat on his arm, sending a shiver through his body.

"Of course," Taking stock of the man sitting before him, Peterman worried about what he saw. The commander was deathly pale. He looked shocky and very ill himself. Once again, Peterman wondered if he should be admitting this man, "Commander, I'm beginning to think I need to find you a bed in this hospital, as well."

"What? No, I'm fine. Just … go on, please."

Peterman didn't agree one bit with the man's self diagnosis, but for the sake of avoiding an argument in the ICU, he let it slide, for the time being.

"Detective…er…Danny's… large bowel was pushing out of the wound when he arrived in the ER, but we were able to save the section of bowel and replace it internally. His stomach was ruptured by the penetration of the bull horn, which was the cause of the hemoperitoneum, or internal bleeding. Quite often a penetrating trauma to a soft organ, such as the stomach will cause rapid bleeding, and the victim to go into shock quickly, which is what happened with Danny. During surgery, we repaired the tear to the organ, and cleaned out the abdominal cavity as best we could, hoping to avoid any leaked stomach contents from causing irritation, or peritonitis…or any other complications."

Peterman sighed deeply. He was tired and aching from the tension in his muscles after a 10 hour surgery and his rounds. Couple that with the notoriety of this special task force, and the news that the reception area of the hospital was now full of the press, all asking questions of his staff about the case, and Dr. Peterman himself was longing for a bed in an unused corner of the hospital, on which he could fall.

"It was a long procedure, Commander, but I am confident we repaired all the damage from the bull attack. Danny did well, all things considered." He smiled wanly as he thought about the hours-long surgery his patient had endured. "He is indeed a fighter. Now we'll watch his vitals, especially his oxygen levels. If he starts breathing on his own, and his levels are adequate, we'll look at waking him up and getting him off the respirator. We are also fighting the infection with a cocktail of antibiotics."

Nothing. No response from the man sitting at the side of the bed. He appeared to be lost in a self imposed fugue, simply staring, hollow-eyed at the man lying in the bed. Finally, Steve inhaled deeply then nodded, "Thank you, Doc, for taking care of him. We have a pretty regular relationship with the doctors at Queens, and Tripler, on Oahu, but this is our first visit to Maui's facilities. I'm sure your staff will do the very best they are able to do for him. One of my people will remain at his side at all times. That is not negotiable, by the way."

With that statement out of the way, Steve rose shakily from the chair, spun around, and out of the cubicle without a glance back.

-H50H50H50-

"Kamekona, I need you to stay with Danny. Don't leave him alone in there. Call me if there is any change – and I mean even a finger moving. The rest of us are going to finish this, now."

Kono and Chin had each spent five minutes visiting Danny, both returning visibly shaken, to the reception area. Steve understood exactly how they felt, but his guilt was all his own. He couldn't share that with anyone.

He didn't know how he was ever going to be able to make this up to Danny. He knew he was the one the trap had been set for. He was the one who was supposed to be taken out up in that pasture. He still didn't know why, and hopefully he would find out, but the fact remained that what had befallen Danny, was a mistake. Steve was going to have to live with that forever, and he just prayed that he would get the chance to tell his best friend how sorry he was.

The earlier need to be anywhere but in the hospital was erased now by the desire to be by Danny's side. The feeling was almost overwhelming, but first, he knew he needed to have something for Danny before he came back to stay. He needed to be able to tell him the case was done. Finished.

Duke had provided them with the information from TSA that "Cecilio Bolivar," AKA, Alejandro Montoya, had purchased a one way plane ticket to Buenos Aires for that afternoon. Records showed that Montoya had a cliff top home overlooking Honolua Bay. It was time for Five-0 to make Montoya's acquaintance.

Friday, 4pm – Honolua Bay Road, Mau'i

Five Maui Police cruisers silently threaded their way up the curvy Honolua Bay Road to reach Montoya's retreat. Under less anxious circumstances, the drive would have been beautiful. A profusion of hibiscus, plumeria, and protea lined the roadway, the sweet scent of the blossoms filling the interiors of the vehicles. Views of the azure blue ocean, with Moloka'i on the horizon, were secured around most bends in the road. There was even an occasional glimpse of a spouting Humpback whale in the distance. But the passengers in the cruisers had their thoughts anchored elsewhere at the moment.

The three Five-0 teammates, along with Sergeant Duke Lukela of HPD, exited the first two cruisers, tack vests velcroed tightly around their torsos, and weapons drawn. They approached the house without a sound and divided up to enter from the front, and the back, simultaneously. Commander McGarrett took point, announcing Five-0's presence and demanding any inhabitants of the house to exit with their hands raised. When there was no response, Lt. Kelly kicked in the front door, and the commander swiftly entered, gun sights directed at whoever might be on the other side of the entrance. Concurrently, Officer Kalakaua and Sergeant Lukela entered from the beautifully landscaped backyard. Swiftly, the four cleared the house, and proceeded to search the perimeter of the residence.

A detached one car garage was set off to the left of the main house. With guns still drawn, Lukela opened the garage door to allow his fellow officers a view inside. There was no ambush, no hidden occupants waiting. Just a black Lexus sedan sitting in the center of the garage with a sheet of yellow paper taped to the front windshield.

The commander tore the sheet off the window and read the note that was addressed to him:

MCGARRET

MONTOYA HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF. YOU WILL NEVER FIND HIM AND

HE WILL NEVER RESURFACE ON YOUR ISLANDS. CONSIDER IT OUR

PARTING GIFT TO YOU. GO TAKE CARE OF YOUR PARTNER.

With a grim smirk, Commander McGarrett handed the note over to Chin Ho, "No need to look further, Chin. I know how these cartels work – Montoya has met a fitting ending. We'll never find him. But I have a gut feeling someday we'll be dealing with this drug cartel again


	16. Chapter 16

Saturday, 9pm –ICU, Mau'i Memorial Medical Center, Mau'i

Steve stood at the threshold to the ICU cubicle once again, but this time acutely aware of his surroundings, and the procedure taking place before him. Doctor Peterman, assisted by an intern, and the nice nurse from earlier, who actually had a name, Aolani, was in the process of removing the breathing tube from Danny's throat. It had been twenty-four hours, post surgery, and Danny had finally started breathing on his own, keeping good saturation levels.

Everything proceeded smoothly, and Aolani placed an oxygen mask securely over Danny's face.

"He's going to hate that when he wakes up," Steve conversationally informed the medical team.

Dr. Peterman was pleased to see that the Commander appeared composed, if not entirely refreshed. He had heard that the case was closed, although he had not been made privy to the circumstances. Still, McGarrett's comment puzzled him, "Why do you say that, Commander? He will need the added oxygen for a while, and it will allow him to rest more comfortably."

"Undoubtedly. But you don't know Danny. He'll hate it, and he'll argue for you to remove it as soon as he can utter a word. He's claustrophobic, and we've had this problem before. Trust me, he'll fight it."

"Ah. Is there anything else I should perhaps be prepared for from my patient?" Dr. Peterman began to think the hard part of his doctor/patient relationship might be about to begin.

"He's grumpy - on a good day. He's sarcastic, caustic, intimidating. You're gonna love him."

As the respirator equipment was removed from the room, Steve finally approached the bed. Danny was starting to look like Danny again. His hair had been smoothed back, per Kono's instructions to the aide on how it should be styled. There was some actual color in his face, although pain lines were still present on his forehead, and around his eyes.

"When will he wake up, Doc?"

The nondescript intern looked at Danny's chart at the foot of his bed, "We'll take him off the midazolam now, and he should awake on his own within an hour or two. Will you… ah…be staying?"

Steve ignored the question while pulling up the visitor's chair and settling in for the wait.

-H50H50H50-

The night wore on, slowly, but surely. Maui Memorial's Intensive Care Unit was smaller than either Queens' or Tripler's, but without a doubt, it was just as busy. A cluster of cubicles was arranged in a circle, with the nurse's station situated squarely in the middle of the space, lined with heart monitors and computer screens that were constantly manned by a certified nurse's aid. Aolani also sat behind the desk doing the paper work for her shift, but keeping a sharp eye on the man sitting beside Detective Williams' bed.

Detective Williams, "Danny" as she had been urged to call him, had yet to wake up on his own. She was concerned, as his temperature had continued to remain above normal, but not in any sort of a danger zone. Danny had arrived at the hospital with the onset of infection, and besides the many prescribed medications he was receiving, his drug cocktail included antibiotics to fight it.

Her attention was drawn to Danny's boss. She had been surreptitiously sneaking glances his way ever since she noticed how still he had become. The tall, lean, and yet powerfully built man had not left his seat in over two hours, apparently glued down. His focus was intent, and single-mindedly locked onto the man in the bed who also had not moved since the removal of the ventilation tube.

Aolani was a perceptive native Hawaiian. She was in her mid forties, slender and dark, with luminous black eyes that crinkled happily when she smiled. Aolani liked to smile, and she understood how her patients and their families clung to the hope and promise, her smiling face offered them. She had become a critical care nurse because she felt the calling to care for people at the crossroads of their lives, whether to help ease the journey her charges were about to make towards a new existence, or to help ground those who were not called yet to make that trip. It was a blessing to be able to hold a dying person's hand, alleviate their fear of the unknown, and gently send them on their way to the hereafter. On the other hand, it was equally satisfying to coax patients back to the land of the living, and help them begin to heal.

Aolani was equipped with the ability to feel the pain, regret, and often times, the sense of guilt many visitors to the ICU silently projected, while sitting in wait for their loved ones to either expire, or recover. The regret and guilt emanating from the man sitting with Danny Williams, waiting for him to wake up, brought to her mind a vision of Mauna Kea boiling just below the surface, ready to explode at any given moment, and with very minimal provocation. To her sensibility, the man was in intense psychological pain, and she was intrigued.

Every monitor at the desk area was purring away on an even keel, so Aolani left the station and quietly entered Danny's cubicle. She approached the commander, clearing her throat to give him warning that she was nearby, and to allow him a chance to compose him self before she addressed him.

"Commander McGarrett, I would be more than happy to sit with Danny if you would like to stretch your legs, and perhaps get a bite to eat?" Aolani gauged the Commander's reaction, as he startled from her voice, and sat up straight in his chair. He seemed the sort of man who rarely was taken by surprise, indicating to her that he had been deep in thought. She wondered if there was something more she could do to help him.

"Commander, I think…" That was as far as her train of thought carried her, for as soon as she uttered those few words, a low groan was audibly heard by both of them, and their joint attention was suddenly, and completely, focused on the man in the bed before them.

-H50H50H50-

He was floating in a void – nothing to see; nothing to hear; nothing to feel. It wasn't a pleasant experience, though. He tried to rise out of the void, because he didn't want to be there anymore, but he didn't know which way to reach. He was swirling in a black sea, with nothing to anchor him, and a cold fear starting to take hold; a fear that he would never find a way out of, well, whatever he was caught in.

A sound fluttered into his sphere, unfamiliar, but soft and warm, beckoning to him, inviting him to join the world of light. Colors started to appear, circling around him; long strands of dark grey, then blue, gradually lightening to a hazy tendril of mauve. He turned in circles, following the wisps of color up, and out from the empty void, and it was beautiful; but then, all at once, the perception of immobility again put a stranglehold on his search for awareness. Just as before when he tried to free himself from the bubble, he couldn't move. Something was holding him down. He couldn't breathe; something was strangling him with its weight. He did what he could to fight it off, but nothing cooperated with his will. Groaning in despair, he tried to move something – an arm, a leg, maybe just a finger…

"Danny, come on man, take it easy, I'm here. You're okay now."

Steve had jumped up at the first sign that his brother was reaching for consciousness, knocking the chair backwards to the floor with a crash. He swiftly moved to the bedside, searching out Danny's twitching fingers, and encircling the cold digits in his warm grip. Placing his free hand on his partner's bare shoulder, careful to avoid the IV port in his neck, Steve leaned over and whispered into Danny's ear. Almost imperceptibly, the agitated man turned his head towards the voice, and immediately calmed. The wrinkled brow smoothed, a tear trickled down the cheek. The commander tenderly wiped the salty water from his friend's face, smiling benignly, and gently encouraging the stricken man to open his eyes, to return to the land of the living. Ever so slowly, Danny Williams complied. With his face turned towards the voice of his partner, the patient fought the sluggishness of his body to force his eyelids to peel back from his eyes a tiny bit.

But it was enough. Joyfully, Commander Steven J. McGarrett's countenance turned into a beaming ray of sunshine. He gripped his partner's hand tighter, and, smiling from ear to ear, simply exclaimed, "There you are, Danny!"

Aolani had never seen anything quite like it before. Not only did she visibly see the change in her patient, but she intuitively, as the elder Hawaiians who had nurtured and encouraged her healing powers would say, felt it in her heart chakra. To her, it was obvious - there was a deep, and spiritual, connection between these two men. More than a friendship, or even a partnership, it was a bond of brotherhood that entwined the two unique personalities into one.

It was strong. It had to be for her to feel it as quickly as she had. It wasn't the first bonding of this sort she had experienced, but it was certainly the strongest, and it filled her with joy. Now she knew she had to help these men to overcome both the physical traumas of one, and the emotional turmoil of the other. It was her duty, and her honor, to guide them both back to health.

Aolani moved into the area between the two brothers, calmly talking to Danny to gauge his level of consciousness, and his cognitive abilities. She took his pulse and oxygen levels, as well as making note of his blood pressure, all the while comforting her patient and telling him he was doing fine. After taking his temperature, Aolani turned to the commander and informed him she would leave them alone for a few minutes, while notifying the doctor on call that Danny had awakened.

Steve nodded without taking his gaze off his partner. There was still confusion in Danny's eyes, and he had yet to say a word. Pain lines were beginning to deeply crease his forehead again, and Steve hoped the doctor would hurry, so he could give him pain meds. In the meantime, Steve tried to temper Danny's discomfort with soothing strokes on his arm.

It was disturbing, and frightening, to see Danny this way. Although he appeared awake, he didn't seem to be focusing on anything in the room. His eyes wandered around aimlessly, and would only return to Steve's face when he voiced Danny's name. There was no normalcy in the situation. Steve had been by Danny's bed many times in the past when he'd awaken from surgery or unconsciousness, and Danny had always snapped out of it relatively quickly, and coherently. This time, Steve worried that Danny acted as though he were swimming around trying to find purchase for his feet to stand on, and not being very successful. Even though the nurse had not voiced any concerns about her patient, Steve had grave misgivings that all was not as well as it should be.

"Danny, are you with me, babe? Look at me…that's it, that's it. Hey, good to see you, man. How do you feel? Can I get you anything?"

"Steve? Where ... are we?" Danny was having a hard time. When he had finally forced his eyes to open, a blurry but familiar face was inches away from his own, and that was good enough for him. The feeling of well-being didn't last, though, as, his sense of awareness started to slip away again. He forgot about Steve. He didn't know where he was, or why he was wherever he was. An elephant was sitting on his stomach, and a balloon was covering his nose and mouth. Fear started to creep back into his consciousness, and his eyes started to flit around the room again. How could he escape? He had to get out of here. He had to get back to Grace…

Steve could tell he'd lost Danny again. He could see his brother start to lose control of his sensibility, and he spotted the fearful look in Danny's darting eyes. He tried his best to calm him, speaking quietly and holding on to his arm to keep him still.

"Danny, the nurse went for the doctor. He'll be here soon. Can you hold on for me? Take it easy, partner." Steve's attempts to alleviate the stress and fears, were to no avail, as without warning, Danny raised his arm and yanked off the oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. The effort sent a shock wave of pain throughout Danny's body, and he arched his back in agony, while emitting an almost inhuman groan of pure agony. Steve jumped onto the bed and scooped his stricken partner up in his arms, holding him tightly, and trying to still his thrashing limbs. Guilt, regret, and pain rose up from his core to spill out in a torrent of tears as he cried for his suffering brother.

And that is what the attending physician, and Aolani, found when they entered the cubicle a second later – the Commander of the Governor's elite task force sprawled on his partner's hospital bed, his arms securely wrap around his shaking partner. The attending rushed to the bedside to check Danny's vitals.

"Detective Williams, can you hear me?"

"Can't you tell he's in pain? You've got to give him something! He's freaking out from that oxygen mask," Steve shouted. He had lost his own cool, and was on the verge of cracking completely in half himself.

Aolani stepped alongside the bed and put a sympathetic hand on Steve's shoulder. She turned to the attending and asked, "Doctor, what are your orders for pain meds"?

"Get him on morphine intravenous. His pain level seems extraordinarily high, but perhaps he has a low threshold." The young doctor glanced quickly at Danny's chart, then added, "keep track of his temperature, it's a little higher than I'd like."

Aolani was apparently well prepared. She immediately hooked up the morphine drip into the IV service port in Danny's neck. Within seconds, her patient began to relax and drifted off into an unnatural, but quiet sleep. She replaced the oxygen mask over Danny's lax face.

The young doctor, Elan Koyabe, studied his patient intently. He gently lifted the light blanket off of Danny's torso to palpate around his abdominal sutures, a slight frown forming on his forehead as he did so. Reading one of the many monitors the detective was currently attached to, he turned to Aolani, "watch those abdominal pressures closely for the rest of the night."

"Yes, doctor," Aolani responded crisply.

Looking up at that point, the doctor caught the glare aimed at him from the man still holding on to his friend. "I suggest you take a break, sir. Detective Williams is being given a strong dose of morphine to manage his pain, and undoubtedly will sleep for hours now. Go home, take a shower, get something to eat, and sleep your self. There's nothing else you can do here."

Snorting out his disgust at that idea, Steve merely righted the overturned chair and settled himself back into the uncomfortable cushions, intent on keeping vigil over his unconscious partner for however long he needed to.


	17. Chapter 17

Sunday, 4am Maui Medical ICU

The fall of his hand from his cheek, and the subsequent downward bob of his head, woke Steve up from his uncomfortable doze. Danny had been sleeping fitfully for the past four hours, but had finally settled into a deeper sleep in the last hour, after Aolani had increased the morphine drip. Steve was unhappy that Danny needed so much morphine to rest comfortably, but he understood the need for him to remain quiet in order for his body to begin the healing process.

The constant beep…beep…beep of the heart monitor was not as soothing as one would expect. Instead, it created a sense of dread – what if it failed to make the next beep? Steve found himself straining in anticipation for the next bit of proof that Danny's heart was beating; that it hadn't decided all at once, between beats, that it was done. Sitting in wait in a hospital room was more stressful for the Navy SEAL that parachuting out of a plane over hostile territory with tracer bullets shooting up at him, but he owed it to his partner to be there when he woke up. Steve just wished Danny would hurry up – there were things he needed to tell him! It was eating him up that this crazy nightmare was happening, anyway. Who goes to visit a bucolic ranch on one of the most beautiful islands in the world, and ends up being gored not once, but twice, by a bull! And that was just the start of the nightmare.

"Come on, Danno, wake up, already!"

Ironically, as if that command was all it took, Steve raised his eyes to look at his partner for the nth time that night, and found Danny staring back at him with a bemused look on his face.

"You look like hell sitting there, Super SEAL." His voice was low, gravelly. It would have been unrecognizable through the oxygen mask if Steve wasn't looking directly at Danny.

"Hey! Hey, good to hear your voice, at least I think it's your voice, Danny! How you feeling?" Steve smiled happily, but then proceeded to fuss around the bed, straightening the sheet, adjusting the pillow, doing anything to avoid more eye contact with his partner. He just didn't know how to deal with his best friend being so sick, unable to think of anything other than that it was his fault his friend was in this present situation.

Putting his hand out to brush Steve's arm, Danny stilled the troubled man with his touch. He had been awake for a few minutes before Steve had startled himself, just getting his bearings as to where he was, and how he felt, which was not particularly great. He felt as if everything was on fire, but nothing hurt more than his belly. How did he get such a belly ache, he wondered? His mouth was as dry as the desert in the dead of summer, and he had a hard time un-sticking his glued-together lips, and tongue.

"Thirsty," was what finally came out, and Steve instantly took the oxygen mask off long enough to place an ice chip between his parched lips. "Ah, thanks." After a couple more chips, Danny signaled he'd had enough for the time being. He laid his head back on the pillow and contemplated the ceiling.

"What happened? Gut shot?"

Steve was rattled by the fact that Danny didn't remember his encounter with the bull, or most likely the situation in the hunting cabin, and automatically assumed he'd been shot. "Don't you … ah, what do you remember?" He asked.

It took a moment for Danny to respond. He seemed to be searching the ceiling for the answer, "Remember some mad, cow…and riding a horse up a mountain…it was a pretty view." Suddenly Danny's eyes grew round as saucers…his breaths coming faster, and more, shallow. "A bull! I couldn't get…out…of…the way…tripped!" Pain and fear creased Danny's face as he recalled the moment the bull first rammed his long horn into his side. He groaned and tried to curl into a ball onto his left side.

"Hey, hey! Danny, it's okay, you're going to be okay. I've got you. I'm just so very sorry I put you here." Looking down at the hand of his best friend lying limply in his own strong hand, Steve whispered, "I never should have insisted we do this case without doing my homework first. I let you down, buddy. We weren't prepared for how serious a case we were getting ourselves into."

Danny had calmed down while Steve was spilling his regret, and sorrow, all over the cubicle. He looked steadily at his brother, and simply said, "Apology accepted, Steven. Can I have another ice chip?"

Sunday morning, 6am Mau'i Memorial ICU

He scratched at the two day stubble growing on his face, yawned deeply, and headed out to find the nearest men's room. Aolani, still sitting at the nurse's station viewing the monitors of all her patients – there were currently three other residents in ICU – smiled sweetly as Steve walked by. "He's resting well now, Commander. This is just what he needs."

"Yeah, I just wish he'd wake up again. I'd like to see those baby blues of his light up when he sees his very pretty nurse!" Steve's eyes crinkled slightly as he patted Aolani's hand. He headed down the hallway smirking at her self-conscious reply, "Oh, Commander, really now!"

A few seconds later, a monitor alarm sounded. Looking up to register which patient was in distress, Aolani bolted for Danny's cubicle. As she reached his bedside, Danny was gasping for air. He was clutching his chest and trying to curl up in a ball, as if to protect his stomach. She reached his bedside and checked the heart monitor attached to his chest. He was going into atrial fibrillation. Not liking what she read for his abdominal gases, she threw back the sheet and palpated Danny's abdomen, just as the attending had done earlier. This time, her patient groaned and tried to wrench away from her touch.

"Oh, no!" Running back to her station, Aolani called the code for patient in distress.

Sunday, 7am – Mau'i Memorial Medical Center

Chin and Kono stumbled out of the open elevator door in their haste to get to the ICU. Steve had called them at their hotel a half hour previously, distraught tension in his voice. Something had happened, and Danny had taken a turn for the worse. They came to a skidding stop as they reached the locked door into the ICU, eyeing their friend and boss sitting in the outer waiting area. Steve was hunched over in the chair, his elbows propped on his knees. The man's head was held up by his two fists, twined around bunches of short black hair. When he looked up at his two comrades, his tear stained face barely registered their presence.

"Oh, Boss!" Kono was beside Steve in an instant, while Chin took the other chair and waited patiently for Steve to speak.

"I don't get it, Chin! Danny seemed to be doing okay. He'd woken up a couple times during the night, and knew I was there. He actually spoke to me the last time, I could tell he was in a lot of pain, but he was getting relief with the morphine.

I … I went to the men's room … I was only gone five minutes … when I came back down the hall, warning beepers were going off everywhere, and the nurse and two doctors were in the room working on him! The aide told me I would have to leave the area, I couldn't stay. I might have lost it then. I think I yelled there was no way I was leaving, not without knowing what was happening.

The nurse that had been there all night, Aolani, I think, came out then and told me the best thing I could do for Danny would be to come out here and let the doctors do their thing. She couldn't tell me what was happening. Maybe she just wouldn't tell me." Steve ran his shaking hands through his sweat slicked hair, staring morosely at the ICU entrance. "Other doctors and nurses have gone in, but no one's come out."

Doctor Peterman exited the elevator and jogged down the hall towards the ICU. He had had a hard time sleeping during the night, worrying about his VIP in ICU, and apparently, he had good reason to worry. The call from Aolani informing him that Detective Williams' heart, lungs and kidneys were beginning to show signs of distress, had him dressed and back at the hospital in record-breaking time.

As he stopped to unlock the ICU door, he glanced into the waiting room. His heart went out to the three shell-shocked people huddled together. There was no time to talk to them now, but he hoped he could alleviate their fears soon.

By the time Peterman reentered the waiting area, Duke and Kamekona had joined the others, lined up along the wall in a set of hard plastic chairs. He proceeded to stop in front of Steve, and turned to sit in the chair alongside him vacated by Chin. He didn't utter a word at first, and no one else had the courage to ask what was on all of their minds.

Steve couldn't take it any longer and finally broke the silence, "How is he? What's happened?"

Sighing deeply, Peterman looked around at all the expectant faces focusing solely on him. None of them looked better for the wear. It dawned on him just how close knit this group of people were. He'd never served in the military, but he had a feeling the camaraderie that he'd always heard about among people who shared extraordinarily stressful, and life-threatening experiences, was an important ingredient of the composition of this Five-0 group. Everyone who was looking to him for an explanation, as to the well-being of their teammate, showed their deep regard for the man in their faces. "It must be the way they cope with what they face on a day to day basis. They have to develop a sense of trust in, and love for, each other in order to walk into a dangerous situation with confidence. Well, I owe it to this group to do my best for their friend."

Peterman turned his gaze towards McGarrett. "Danny is stabilized for the time being, but he has developed a major complication. I won't beat around the bush with you folks. His condition has the potential to become life-threatening if we can't bring it under control with medication."

"What happened? We thought he was doing well when we left last night?" Kono asked.

"At that time, he was. I was a little concerned about his temperature being above normal, but I felt we were aggressively attacking the infection that had started before Danny was admitted. As it turns out, the infection isn't a major concern."

Turning to look directly at Steve, Peterman continued, "As I told you earlier, Commander, Danny's abdomen was punctured by the bull's horn. During surgery, our team cleaned and sutured the perforation, placing drains in his abdominal cavity. A pressure monitor was inserted into his bladder, through a urinary catheter, to keep check on his abdominal compartment blood pressure.

One of the side effects of severe abdominal trauma is a condition known as abdominal compartment syndrome. It often develops after a severe injury, and coupled with surgery to repair the damaged organs, it's very difficult to avoid. I had hoped we had done enough to prevent Danny from developing it, but unfortunately, he has."

"But…what does all that mean?" Kono was at a loss, but Steve understood. At least, he understood what compartment syndrome was, since he had suffered from it once when he had had a bullet wound in his calf dressed too tightly, and for too long, in the field. He remembered the persistent deep ache in his leg, the feeling of pins and needles, and the tightness from the swelling. He could only imagine how much more severe the pain would be in abdominal compartment syndrome. He also remembered the long slice through his tightly swollen skin the medic had made to relieve the pressure, and release the fluid in his leg. "Shit, Danny, this just keeps getting worse, doesn't it, buddy."

Anxiety was getting the best of Kono. She had no idea what this new development meant for Danny's recovery, but the vibes she was getting from Steve as he hung his head and quietly voiced a surrendered "shit" scared the daylights out of the usually cool, calm, and collected officer. She rounded on Peterman, nailing him to his chair with her glare, "What, exactly, are you telling us?"

The doctor rubbed the back of his neck, taking his time to search for the right words. "Detective Williams' pressure in his abdominal compartment has risen to a dangerous point as a result of the buildup of edema, or body fluid, and swelling in the abdomen due to the goring wound, and it's surgical repair. The drains were unable to handle all the buildup. Blood flow to and from his abdominal organs is reduced, and he is showing signs of organ injury. My hope is that we can get this under control without surgery. That would be our last ditch effort, and it's not a slam dunk cure, at all. Mortality, unfortunately, is very high in this type of surgery."

"How much more can he take, Doc? Is he strong enough to handle this?" Steve wasn't sure if Danny would be able to. He'd been the one to sit with him during the night, to see him struggle to regain consciousness. He saw the pain and confusion evident in every breath his friend took. God, he didn't know if he could handle this next hurdle, either.

Peterman stretched out his legs. Putting his hands on his knees, he stood up, and placing his hand on Steve's shoulder, he looked around at his patient's companions, "When Danny was first admitted you told me that he was a fighter. That he had a daughter he loved, and that he would fight to return to her. Am I right?"

Chin, who had been silently taking it all in, responded first, "Danny loves his daughter, Grace, more than anything else in the world. If there is a chance for him to recover, he'll fight every inch of the way," Looking around the room, he made eye contact with Duke and Kamekona, then Kono and finally, Steve, "and he won't have to do it alone. His Ohana will be here for him, too.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, but crucial for Steve and Danny's emotional recovery! Because it's not always just physical.

Sunday, 11 am Mau'i Memorial ICU

Kono and Chin were admitted into the ICU to see Danny, while Steve made phone calls to Rachel, and Amber. He also called the Governor to inform him the team was unavailable for assignment for the foreseeable future. The three teammates would remain on Mau'i until Detective Williams was out of the woods.

"Fine, Commander. Give my regards to Detective Williams, and let me know if there is anything he needs." Governor Denning paused then added, "I'm very sorry this turned out badly for your man, Steve. I had the best interests of the Hawaiian agricultural community in mind when I sent you to Mau'i, and I had no idea it would turn into something criminal."

"Thank you, Governor. I'll keep you informed of his progress." Steve ended the call and buzzed his way into the ICU.

Even though her shift should have ended at 7am, Aolani had remained on duty until her patient had been stabilized and was resting as comfortable as possible. She caught sight of Commander McGarrett as he entered the ICU, and headed him off before he entered Danny's cubicle.

"Commander, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"I…uh…I need to return to my partner's room." Steve really did not want to stop and talk. He needed to be by Danny's side and he didn't want to be sidetracked, even for a minute.

"I understand, Commander, but I would like to discuss your friend with you, if I could." Aolani guided Steve to a chair behind the nurse's desk. "Please, have a seat. I'll only take a moment of your time. Danny is sleeping, and his other friends are with him now, so he is not alone.

Blowing air forcefully out of his mouth, while sitting down in the chair, Steve looked over towards Danny's cubicle and could see Kono sitting by the bedside, with Chin leaning over the still form of his partner. He knew Danny was in good hands, and he relaxed a little for the first time since the bells and whistles went off early this morning. He looked down at his hands, working his jaw to alleviate some of the tension in his neck.

Aolani watched the young man in front of her intently. He was still tense, and if possible, even more sorrowful than the night before. When she had reached a conclusion in her mind, she spoke softly, gently, but firmly. "Commander, your friend is right where he needs to be. I believe you know he is incredibly strong, but you fear you are not strong enough to face a life without him in it."

Steve shot his head up and stared at the woman sitting in front of him. He didn't understand where this woman was coming from, but somehow, she knew what was in his heart. "How... why do you say that?"

Aolani merely smiled and took Steve's hands in her own. "You have been displaying your fears since you first entered this ICU. You are afraid for your friend, but you have an even greater fear that you are responsible for what happened, and that he will never forgive you. You have to cleanse your spirit of that negativity, my friend. You cannot help Danny if you fear he will not forgive you. And you must believe he will survive this."

"How can you be so sure? How can you know he'll pull through? Not even Doctor Peterman knows for sure." Steve shook his head in disbelief. There was no way this woman could understand what was inside him, or how he felt about his brother.

She was also wrong. He didn't fear Danny wouldn't forgive him. He knew his partner too well to honestly believe that. The two of them had learned enough about each other through the years to realize that their job, and their personal predicaments, required them to trust each other in a way not normally found in a partnership. No matter what one did. What trouble they got into that would require superhuman responses from the other to save the day. They would be there for each other, doing whatever it took to fix the mess the other was in. No questions asked. No lack of trust, no blame.

Yes, Steve felt remorse for what had happened. He knew from the little bits of information he'd received from MPD, and what Diego had said in the cabin, that the trap Danny had stepped in to was meant for him. He knew Danny would forgive him, and tell him "You big goof! It doesn't matter which one of us got trampled by that bull, the game would have played out the same way. What makes you so special that you think you're always the star of any criminal's attempts to rid the world of Five-0, anyway?"

Steve actually smiled, just a little, as he heard Danny's mini-rant in his mind.

What he feared, more that Danny's death, was having to tell Grace that he had let her down. That he had allowed her father, her idol, to walk into a situation that they couldn't handle. He was deathly afraid she would hate him for letting her father get hurt, that she would shun him, and walk out of his life, if her father didn't make it.

He was staring into the nurse's eyes. She was so calm, almost spiritual, in her attitude. Suddenly, he felt something shift in his heart, a change in perception. He decided he would accept whatever happened, but he wouldn't dwell on that negative possibility. He would just be there for his partner. He would support and care for Danny until he wasn't needed anymore. With that decision made, his spirit suddenly rose. He felt a strange tingling as a warm sensation flowed through his body, and he felt as if a giant boulder had been lifted off his chest. He breathed deeply, and welcomed a peace he hadn't experienced since riding out into the clearing in that mountain pasture, and taking in the view.

Aolani's eyes crinkled happily. She shared that feeling of peace with the man sitting before her. Her job with him was complete. He was on his way to becoming whole again, and thus able to help his partner fight his way back to health, too.

_H50H50H50

He almost lost his resolve though, in the next instant.

Chin and Kono looked up as they heard a soft gasp from the threshold of the cubicle. Turning in unison, they saw their friend trip just a bit as he entered the space.

For a moment, Steve wished he hadn't walked back into the ICU. Danny looked worse than he had early this morning. Any color in his face that might have returned was gone, again, replaced by an ashy complexion that just did not fit the usually ruddy face of his friend. His features were slack, completely remote, and nearly lifeless, with the respirator tube once again taped around his mouth. This shell that was his friend was so completely missing the vitality of Danny Williams it was almost ridiculous to believe Danny was inside. Yet, Steve knew in his heart he would never give up on his partner. As long as there was breath left in his body, he would stand by this man who had saved his life more times than he could count, and who had wormed the confession out of him that the McGarrett men didn't show emotion. Not because they didn't feel it just as much as the next person, but because it was not a part of their constitution to show weakness. No one else had ever learned that about him, and no one else had ever bought him a guitar!

Danny had reminded Steve that it was okay to show love for those you care deeply about. It was a lesson long forgotten, but recently relearned. Steve softly brushed his hand across Danny's still face. "I'm here, Danno. We'll get through this together, partner, I promise."

Chin eyed his boss, and friend, noticing the tenderness with which Steve was talking to Danny. "It will be all right, Steve. Right now it's hard to picture Danny coming out of this, but we just have to believe he will."

Without looking Chin's way, Steve agreed, "I know he will Chin. He has Grace to live for."

The original four members of the Governor's Special Crimes Task Force were all together again. Chairs were pulled out of other empty cubicles, and the three ambulatory teammates settled in to watch over their sick teammate.


	19. Chapter 19

Monday, 7:30am – Mau'i Memorial ICU

It was still hard for Steve to walk back into Danny's room and see him hooked up to all the machines, and monitors. It was another twenty-four hours since this hellish experience had begun, making it three full days in ICU. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Danny and Steve had shared a Loco Moco breakfast back at HQ on Oahu. The night before, Chin and Kono had forcibly ushered Steve out of ICU and had Duke, and Kamekona, escort him back to the hotel to clean up, eat real food, and get some sleep. They stayed with Danny through the uneventful night. To say Steve was refreshed would have been an overstatement, but he did feel better than he had. Receiving the good news from Aolani, as soon as he was buzzed into ICU, he was just grateful that Dr. Peterman had felt Danny was holding his own enough to have removed the ventilator once again, hopefully for good this time. Of course, it sucked that Danny had experienced the setback with his compartment syndrome, but the realization that they had hopefully avoided opening up his abdomen to relieve the pressure, was overwhelming. Just thinking about that last ditch possibility, Steve had to squint his eyes in order to keep the tears from running down his cheeks, but he knew Chin and Kono weren't fooled. Both moved aside to let Steve in closer to the hospital bed.

Dr. Peterman took that opportunity to enter the crowded cubicle. He scanned the features of the people before him, resting finally on his patient. He was pleased that Danny was breathing on his own, and by looking at the abdominal pressure readings, was satisfied that the vasopressors, added to his medication cocktail, were starting to work. Still, he felt at least a couple kidney dialysis treatments would be needed to relieve the strain on Danny's kidneys, and clean his blood without injury, but in all likelihood it would not be permanent. He thought perhaps Detective Williams' Ohana needed to hear this.

"Danny is doing well, all things considered."

Three sets of eyes rounded on him. They were calm, stoic almost, but still held vestiges of fear. The beautiful Asian woman with the limpid dark brown, almond-shaped, eyes spoke first. Barely above a whisper, she asked, "Is he really going to be okay?"

Her cousin walked around the foot of the bed to place his arm around her shoulders, lending his support and strength, but at the same time, closely watching the doctor for body language to read. He was well aware that people are able to say one thing, especially if it's something one really wants to hear, but the shifting of weight from one foot to the other, the inability to maintain eye contact, the fidgeting of one's hands, all would indicate the lie. Dr. Peterman passed the visual interrogation, as he was confident Danny had turned the corner.

"If he holds his own for the next 24 hours, I have little doubt that he'll make a full recovery. I've ordered a lessening of the sedative, so he should be coming around in the next hour or so. We'll do a dialysis treatment later this afternoon, and by this evening we'll have him in his own room."

Thankful countenances, along with three small sighs of relief, lightened the atmosphere in the ICU considerably. Chin, being Chin, of course, was the only one actually capable of saying anything at that moment.

"Thank you, Doctor Peterman, for all you've done for Danny. We'll never forget it."

"Well, to be honest, we've only done the mechanical part here. Detective Williams must be an exceptional man to have the kind of support system I've seen during the last three days from your team, and friends. Your devotion to his recovery is what has gotten him this far, and it's what he'll continue to need from you. It's going to be a long recuperation, and he'll be extremely limited in what he'll be capable of doing for quite a while. For the time being, let's get him awake, and with everything functioning properly. I'm very anxious to actually get to meet Detective Williams."

There! He finally got three smiles.

"Be careful what you wish for, Doc! That could backfire on you," Steve shook Peterman's hand and sat down in the chair again to wait for the baby blues to open.

H50H50H50

"Danno! Come swim with me! The water is so warm!"

"I'm coming, Grace, just as soon as Uncle Steve plays me a song on his guitar."

His dream was so peaceful, and pleasant. He was sitting on the sand at Steve's private ocean front. Grace was happily splashing in the water, using a boogie board to follow the small waves onto the beach. Amber was standing near her, laughing at the water crashing against her knees. A gentle breeze was lifting his hair, messing it up, but for once he didn't care one bit. Chin was barbecuing, Kono was tossing a salad in the kitchen, and the rest of his friends were sitting around laughing and trying to out do each other in the joke department. The best part, though, was Steve. He had gotten out the new guitar Danny had given him, and was shyly playing a tune.

He didn't want to ever leave this peaceful scene, but he knew he needed to. It was time to wake up, time to do what he had to do to make this dream a reality. He struggled towards the surface, fighting his tiredness to pry open his hundred-pound eyelids. It seemed to be a losing battle, though, until he felt a cool touch on his forehead, a gentle pressure on his thigh, and his hand being lifted and squeezed by strong, warm fingers.

He knew who was there, who was waiting for him, and he knew he could do this! He could join his friends. Suddenly, he saw light, stark and bright, and fuzzy shadows in front of his face. He gave his vision a moment to clear, and his heart a second to stop pounding in his chest from the effort it took to open his eyes, then he looked around and focused first on Chin smiling proudly down on him. A slight shift to the right, and there was Kono, a single tear lazily tracking down her cheek.

"Hey, Danno, welcome back."

Steve. He was there too. Of course, where else would he be?

"Hey, guys." "Was that me? What happened to my voice? That sounded more like a croak."

"Don't try to talk, Danny, you've had a respirator tube down your throat, and you have an oxygen mask on at the moment. Here, let me give you some ice." Steve helped Danny suck a couple of ice chips into his mouth, watching with satisfaction as his partner seemed to relish the wetness on his lips and throat.

"Thanks. Better now. How, long?"

"How long have you been out? Long enough, man."

Danny heard the little tremor in Steve's voice. "Sorry."

Then it was Steve's turn. "No, Danno, you have nothing to be sorry about. We're just really glad to see you awake, and on your way to getting whole again."

"You gave us quite a scare there, brah!" Chin's eyes dazzled with delight, "Kono, what do you say we go find the cafeteria and get some food, now that Danny has joined the land of the living again?"

Kono placed a soft, wet kiss on Danny's cheek, looking into his eyes to read his current status. When he blinked back at her and gave a little nod, she smiled and said, "Good idea, cuz, I'm starving. We'll see you later, Danny. Be good!"

Steve, of course, continued to stand alongside the bed. He still held Danny's cold fingers, but avoided eye contact. He seemed to be searching for words to say.

Finally, Danny lifted off the oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose. "You're scaring me here, Super SEAL…what aren't you telling me?"

With that, Steve broke out of his reverie. "Danno, you're fine. Well, you're not fine yet, but the doc says you will be." He tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace than a real pleasant countenance that he bestowed on his bedridden partner. "It's just…well, I'm so goddamned sorry this happened."

Danny attempted to shift into a more comfortable position, only to send a white hot spasm of pain through his abdomen. "Oh, shit…that hurt…like hell." Panting to catch his breath, he also realized that every breath wreaked havoc on his ribcage. "What the fuck happened to me?"

Steve quickly pushed the nurse's call button.

"Well, you had a run in with a bull…"

"Stop right there, it's coming back to me. I think I'd rather not remember." Danny settled back into the hospital bed, closing his eyes, and putting the oxygen mask back on his face.

Steve had to smile at that response. His partner was back.

Tuesday, 1am – Mau'i Memorial, Private room

Danny was standing in the high mountain pasture overlooking the crystal blue ocean. He was enjoying the view, "You don't see tranquility like this very often in Jersey!" Suddenly the picture changed – a twenty-foot tall bull with fifteen foot wide horns, huge red-rimmed eyes, snorting fire out of its flared nostrils, and bellowing like a monstrous dragon, was bearing down on him, intent on impaling him to the ground all over again! "No! Get away from me! Get away!"

The first strangled cry from the bed woke Steve up out of his uncomfortable doze. On high alert, he quickly scanned the private room, placing his hand over where his weapon should be, before realizing where he was and what was going on. With the second "Get away," Steve was instantly at his partner's side, grabbing hold of Danny's flailing hands.

"It's okay, buddy! You're okay. Take it easy, Danny. Can you wake up for me? You're having a dream."

The raging monster bull faded away to be replaced by aneurism face staring down at him. Danny was shaking, and sweating profusely, but just the sound of his brother's voice calmed him down. He took a few deep breaths, which caused a painful reminder that he needed to be a bit more careful, and surrendered himself back to the pillows encircling his head. He'd been wracked with nightmares nearly every time he'd fallen into some semblance of sleep. The nurses had said it was due to the sedatives he had been given, nothing to worry about. Maybe nothing for them to think twice about, but they were sure hitting him hard. He looked up at his frowning partner.

"I'm okay. You can stop with the face now."

Steve let out a snort of relief. "I don't have a face, Danno."

"Of course you do." A tired hand circled through the air, falling limply to the side of the bed. "Why are you here? It's gotta be the middle of the night. How did you talk them into letting you stay? We're not at Tripler…we don't have a punch card for this place."

"I am kind of a regular here now, buddy. This is night number four at Mau'i Memorial for us."

"Oh, I see. I'm sure you've rendered the staff into submission with your scowls and grenades. How much "immunity and means" did you threaten the good Doctor Peterman with, Steven? Or maybe you lulled them all into a false sense of security with your puppy dog eyes." Tiredly, Danny stopped ranting. It was too exhausting at the moment.

"Are you done? Can I speak now?" Steve ground out, "Let me just say," his features softened into a gentle smile, "it's really good to have you back, Danny."

Danny opened his eyes at that last comment, a look of surprise on his face. Seeing that his partner was indeed serious, he fidgeted with the sheet on his bed. Without looking up, he quietly acknowledged his partner, "I'm glad to be here, too, Babe."

"Listen, Danny, I…" Steve didn't know how to continue. He wanted to let Danny know how badly he felt about this whole horrible situation, how it was all his fault, but it was so damn hard to know the words to use, and then Danny spoke again.

"Steven, I know. You feel guilty. You think this is all, your, fault. You probably think it should have been you this happened to. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret, buddy. You are not omnipotent. You can't fix the whole world by taking on the whole world. Sometimes you just have to accept that shit happens, and you have to leave some of it for the rest of us peons to wade through. It wouldn't make me feel any better if it was you lying here in this bed, instead of me."

Steve looked up into the smiling, tired eyes of his beloved partner. His own eyes filled with tears once again. He knew for a fact that if he had lost him this weekend, he wouldn't be able to do this job anymore. No one knew his soul the way this man he called "brother" did. Softly he reiterated once again, "I'm so sorry, Danny. I promise we'll get through this together. I also need to thank you for…you know…saving my life back in the cabin."

Danny had to ponder that last sentence. "I did? When…ah…did I do that?

-TBC-


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny is in for a happy surprise this chapter! Can you guess what it is before reading?

Thursday, two weeks later – Mau'i Memorial

Danny found himself dangling his legs over the side of the bed, contemplating how many steps it would take to reach the bathroom on the other side of the room. The catheter had only been removed the night before, but his nurse had insisted if he wanted to go home, he'd have to prove he was ambulatory enough to get to the bathroom. Upon his insistence to give it a try, she had helped him sit on the edge of the bed in preparation for his little jaunt. Then she was called out of the room for an emergency elsewhere on the floor, "Don't be doing anything crazy like attempting to make it to the bathroom on your own, Mr. Williams. I'll be back soon," and with that, she had just left him sitting there, frustrated beyond words.

"Okay, I have been cooped up in this hospital for two whole weeks, and I'm going nuts. I need to get home to Grace. If I have to show "Nurse Ratchett" that I can do this, I just better do it!"

Danny started to scoot himself towards the edge of the bed, looking down at the floor to judge the distance until his feet would touch. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't pain free, either. Although his ribs were healing nicely, using his beleaguered stomach muscles caused enough pain to make him stop and catch his breath, frequently.

"Come on, you shmuck, you can do this." Danny was trying hard to convince himself that it was feasible for him to get off his bed and shuffle to the bathroom, when out of the blue a boisterous, "Danno!" filled his room with a joyful sound. His head shot up from looking at the floor in consternation, to behold a vision of bubbly effervescence hurtling towards him at breakneck speed. He just barely had time to open his arms wide in order to catch her, and pull her in close. Breathing in the scent of coconut and papaya shampoo, he closed his eyes and hugged his baby girl tightly as his ribs and abdomen allowed. "Grace, I'm so glad you're here. What are you doing here?"

"I'm glad I'm here, too, Danno! I missed you so much! Uncle Steve said it would be all right for me to see you, and I flew over in Kamekona's helicopter. That was so cool!"

"Uncle Steve said that would be all right, did he?" Danny glowered at "Uncle Steve" standing in the doorway with a very satisfied grin on his face. "Uncle Steve didn't think perhaps he should have my permission before handing you over to Kamekona for an oceanic flight?"

"Oh, it's okay, Danno, he asked Mommy first."

Steve had the good grace to duck out of the room at that point, leaving Danny and his daughter some private time together to catch up. He saw Dr. Peterman rounding the corner of the corridor, and decided this would be a good opportunity to talk to the man about the other patient in Peterman's care, Ayden Aikau, who had suffered a more severe traumatic brain injury than had originally presented in the first couple of hours of the ordeal on the crater.

"Hey, Doc, got a minute? I wondered if I could talk to Ayden Aikau soon. I'd like to get his statement before heading back to Oahu."

Peterman smiled warmly as he stopped to visit with Steve. Over the course of the past two weeks, he had come to know, and appreciate, the Five-0 team. As Commander McGarrett had warned him, Detective Williams had been a larger than life personality in the confines of the small hospital, but cantankerous outbursts aside, he had been a source of entertainment for the staff, especially after he started to feel better. Dr. Peterman would find orderlies and aides whiling away their break time in Danny's room, listening to his stories of "daring do" that his crazy Neanderthal partner performed on a daily basis. Nurses would vie to arrange their schedules to be assigned to Detective Williams' floor, so they could change his bed, give him his meds, and take him on wheel chair excursions and shuffled walks, up and down the halls. Oh, yes. He was certainly the most popular patient Mau'i Med had seen in quite some time!

Although Lt. Kelly and Officer Kalakaua had returned to Oahu shortly after confirming that their teammate was going to recover completely, Commander McGarrett had stayed on the island the whole time. He'd finally agreed to spend nights at his hotel, after Danny had literally kicked him out of his hospital room when he was well enough to realize his friend hadn't slept in a bed in nearly a week.

Now, Dr. Peterman was ready to release Danny from the hospital. If his ultrasound tomorrow showed good progress, he could recover just as well, if not better, in a more, homey environment. He wasn't going to release him to go back to Oahu, just yet, though. Peterman wanted to monitor Danny's abdominal cavity swelling for just a few more days, and he felt Danny could use a little more time before heading back to the strains of daily living. It was going to take at least a month before he would even be ready for desk duty, let alone full reinstatement on the task force, so what were a few more days on Mau'i?

Dr. Peterman spoke confidently to Steve, "Well, Commander, I think we can arrange for that conversation this afternoon. Ayden is recovering well from the bleed on his brain, after we removed the piece of skull that had been smashed in by the shovel. You know, it's a wonder the boy was coherent at all when you rescued him. His brain had already swelled to the point where he couldn't remember his own name, by the time he was admitted here. He'll need surgery again when the swelling has completely subsided to replace the hole in his skull with a metal plate."

"He will make a complete recovery, though?" Steve felt a small amount of remorse for his lack of sympathy towards Ayden when he and Danny were rescued. He still felt the kid deserved jail time for his part in the drug smuggling plan, but Steve and Danny had already discussed not pressing charges against Ayden for what happened in the field, after he had been knocked senseless in the barn.

"The kid couldn't stop something from happening when he was unconscious on the ground, Steve," Danny had spoken in Ayden's defense. "He told me he had no idea who was waiting in the barn, and I remember he tried to help me, and, he tried to stop the goon from finishing you off back at the cabin, as well. I think the kid was swept up in events that he was unprepared for, and which quickly escalated out of his control. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, Steve."

When Steve returned to Danny's room a short time later, Grace was sitting on top of the bed showing her father a new game on her smart phone. Danny looked up at Steve with a soft glow in his eyes and a peaceful smile on his lips. At that moment, Steve knew he would do anything to keep that look of happiness on his friend's face all the time.

"Doctor Peterman says tomorrow's the day you get to fly the coop, if you promise to behave and follow his directions. He doesn't want you to leave the island for another few days, though, so we'll be staying at the Waihulu Inn. I've arrange with Rachel for Grace to stay, too. If it's okay with you, Gracie?" Steve teased.

"Oh, yes, Uncle Steve, I would love to stay! Danno, we'll go swimming, and maybe Uncle Steve will take me snorkeling, and…and…whale watching, and…"

"Whoa, there, young lady, Steve, do you hear her? Are you sure about this? I don't think I'll be much fun to be around, and she can be a demanding little peanut!" Danny was worn out just thinking about all the mischief his Grace, and her Uncle Steve, could get into in the name of his so-called recuperative time on the island. "Maybe we should just head back to Oahu?"

Grace visibly deflated, a tiny pout marring her sweet features, "Danno, I promise I won't be any trouble. Please, can we stay just for a couple of days?"

"Yeah, Danno, I think I can handle the "little peanut" just fine for a few days. Besides, the Doc won't let you out of here if you don't commit to staying on Mau'i for at least three more days. Don't worry…it'll be fun!" Steve beamed at Danny, knowing he was getting the last word in on the subject.

"That's exactly what I am worried about," Danny mumbled, but Steve and Grace were not worried, they could see the happy look on Danny's face.

_H50H50H50

He was back in the pitiful excuse for a cabin. The one room stunk of old sweat and mildew. The mattress he was laying on was dank and filthy. He was struggling hard to breathe, and every attempt to draw air into his lungs sent flames skittering across his chest. He heard a voice, Steve's voice, demanding and angry, "Let me go to my partner," he was shouting. In his dream, Danny opened his eyes and saw one of the cartel goons raising a rifle to shoot his brother in the back. "Gun," Danny screamed! But to no avail. In slow motion, Danny watched the fiery blast, and the bullet shoot out from the barrel of the rifle, quickly accelerating and finally blasting a hole squarely in the center of Steve's back. He watched as his friend, and brother, fell to the floor, lifeless.

"NO! Oh God, no! Steve, I'm sorry I didn't have your back!"

Danny woke up completely disoriented. He was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, sitting up in an unfamiliar bed. All at once he felt the searing pain in his belly that always indicated he had overdone it…yet again. His shaking hand distractedly brushed his wayward hair back into place as he willed his wildly beating heart into some semblance of a normal rhythm.

He reached for the glass of water on the bed stand, but his depth perception was not as good as usual, and he knocked the glass off the table, sending it crashing to the floor.

"Shit."

"Danny, are you okay?"

Sighing lightly – it still was too painful to draw a deep breath of air into, or dispel it out from his damaged lung – Danny looked over at his vigilant partner lying in the hotel bed across from his.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just another dream. Sorry I woke you." Danny tiredly dug his palms into his burning eye sockets. They'd had a busy day; Steve had driven them up the coast to Napili Bay, one of the best snorkeling areas on the island. Danny sat in the shade of a huge umbrella set into the sand and watched Steve and Grace snorkel away the morning. He'd tried to nap in the afternoon, but Grace was anxious to spend as much time with her dad as she could, so she fidgeted, checking on him every five minutes to see if he was ready to play a game, or watch a DVD with her. He hadn't slept much this night, either, and he was bone weary, but deathly afraid to close his eyes and face a return of the vision of Steve being shot from behind, or in his other recurring nightmare, the raging bull bearing down on him. He was so thankful that Grace was sleeping soundly in the adjoining room.

Steve sat up in bed and turned on the night light. He got a good look at his partner, and he didn't like what he saw. Danny looked downright haggard. "Are you sure you're okay? Can I get you anything?

"I'm fine, Steve. Just…quit it."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about, Steven."

"I'm not buying that, buddy."

Danny looked at his partner long and hard. How to tell him that he was afraid? He wasn't just scared to death of the nightmares. It was deeper than that. How could he tell Steve he felt as if this time he just didn't have it in him to go back to Oahu, and return to Five-0 as if nothing had changed? He was afraid he was finally done as a cop, and he was terrified that his little girl, who idolized the ground he walked on because he always put the bad people in jail, would turn away from him in disgust if he couldn't do it anymore.

Would Super SEAL be able to understand where he was coming from? Or would he look down his nose at him, and cast him aside as a schmuck who couldn't handle being a cop because of fear?

That would break his heart. It really would, but Danny would understand it. Lt. Commander Steven J. McGarrett, decorated Navy SEAL, would never be able to respect someone sworn to defend and protect, and then not be able to do that anymore because of his personal phobias.

"Danny, talk to me," Steve had seen all the emotions flitting across Danny's face in that heartbeat of time. He recognized the indecision and fear there, and he had a pretty good idea where those feelings were coming from.

"Forget it. Let's get some sleep." Danny decided to avoid the whole miserable problem and turned off the light. He gingerly lay back down in the bed, and turned away from his partner.

It took Steve a couple seconds before he agreed, "Okay, buddy. Goodnight." Then he laid his head back down on the pillow, but simply stared at the ceiling without even trying to go back to sleep.

Steve had been wide awake for the better part of an hour, trying to figure out how he could help his partner. He was startled by a terrified shout of fear, and pain, "NO! Get away!" Quickly throwing the sheet off, he darted across to Danny's bed, and found his friend shaking and sweating again, just as he had been an hour ago. Steve took a corner of the sheet, dunked it in what remained of the glass of water, and gently wiped the sweat off Danny's face.

The cool wetness awakened him, and he was relieved to be free of the raging bull once again. But Danny knew that each time he had one of these nightmares, it was harder for him to overcome his dread of returning to his normal life. He knew Steve was sitting on his bed, but he couldn't open his eyes to look at him. He turned away to lie facing the wall. He felt the bed shift then, and soon he could feel the warmth of his best friend lying fully against his own body. And then, he couldn't hold back any longer. Tears leaked from his eyes, and he was wracked with long, painful sobs.

Tenderly, Steve consoled his partner, letting him know with just his touch that he had him, that it would all be okay. In those moments, Steve finally realized what was bothering Danny so much. It wasn't very different from the way his SEAL teammates had often felt after a particularly horrendous mission that had gone sour. It wasn't any different from the way HE had felt after more than one of those missions.

-To Be Continued-

Because we're just not quite there yet...


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to let this story go. I've loved writing it, and doubt if I have it in me to attempt another labor of love to this depth. In fact, it's so hard to say good-bye there WILL be an epilogue.

Sunday, 11 am - Old Wailuku Inn, Wailuku, Mau'i

Danny sat in the sun on the lanai, trying to soak up as many rays before the heat of the day sapped his limited energy. Grace was kicking a soccer ball around on the lawn beyond the lanai, sending clandestine glances her father's way. He knew he should be giving her some attention, there was nothing he wanted to do more, but he just didn't have the energy. Now he worried about what Steve might be thinking since his little meltdown during the night, but really ... he didn't have the will to care anymore.

This wasn't the way he had envisioned the end of his career. Until he was harnessed into being McGarrett's partner – PM, or pre-McGarrett, as he liked to call it - he'd imagined a progressive rise up the police department's hierarchy to perhaps land in a captain's office, eventually retiring out with a pension, and maybe a commendation or two. But post-McGarrett was an entirely different story. During the last four and a half years, he had thoroughly expected a very sudden demise at the hand of crazy suspects, or quite possibly, an equally crazed Neanderthal partner!

Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected to slink away into oblivion, scared of his own shadow. But here he was; unable to shake off the fears of defeat, and the emotions of regret and sadness he felt every night - losing Matt, almost losing Steve to WoFat, killing Reyes, and now these nightmares. He just…well, he just didn't think he could keep being a cop. If he couldn't trust himself to have a backbone anymore, how could he expect his teammates to trust him to be there for them, especially Steve, who needed someone whom he could depend upon to always back up his crazy escapades?

He was at a crossroads, and he knew it. He couldn't imagine himself as anything but a cop, and yet, he didn't trust himself as a cop anymore. It used to be the one thing he knew he was good at, but now…he just wasn't sure. Danny sighed deeply as he continued to chastise himself for being such an emotional wuss.

"How is my favorite haole today?"

Danny was jolted out of his funk by the gentle and kind voice of his ICU nurse, Aolani. Turning his head to see where she was, he was shocked to feel her put her hand on his shoulder. Surprised to realize he had been so lost in thought as to be totally unaware of her presence, until she had spoken.

Aolani smiled sweetly down into Danny's face, reading every line and crease, observing the hooded eyes, and the thinly drawn lips, the unhealthy pallid complexion. The commander had been right, her haole was in pain, and it wasn't all physical. In fact, it looked to her as if the emotional well-being of Detective Williams was more at stake now than his physical recovery.

"Oh, uh, I feel okay, Aolani. What, ah …what are you doing here?" Danny sat up straighter in his chair, running a hand quickly over his hair to force the fly-aways into place. He was self-conscious, knowing he hadn't worried too much about his appearance this morning.

Aolani cocked her head to the side, and then gazed across the lawn to see Grace run towards her Uncle Steve. She was listening intently to what he was saying to her, then turned to her dad, smiled, and called out, "Uncle Steve is going to take me to the Hard Rock Café for lunch, is that okay, Danno? We'll bring you something back."

Danny waved his daughter, and his best friend off, and then turned his scowling countenance on Aolani. "What's going on, Aolani? Why are you here? And why are Grace and Steve high tailing it for the hills?

"The commander is worried about you, Danny. He asked me to stop by and have a chat." Aolani sat herself down on the lawn in front of Danny's chair, as if settling in for a pleasant conversation.

Danny, on the other hand, was not at all interested in whatever Aolani thought was about to take place. He set both hands firmly on the arms of his chair, ready to hoist him self into a standing position, and politely take his leave. But he was stopped by Aolani's voice, "Danny, you have many fears that are tearing you away from your family and the life you love. Let me help you overcome them."

-H50H50H50

A sense of calm washed over his being. It was as if the elephant that had been sitting on his chest since Mattie died was shifting, and moving. He felt Aolani draw close to him, placing her hands on his knees, centering his being. He breathed deeply, painlessly, staring into Aolani's rich, brown, eyes filled with love and encouragement. He was lost in her eyes.

When she spoke again, her voice was inside his head, "Danny, you are a good man. You are honest, loyal, and fierce. You have always put your family and your teammates before your own well-being, and you have earned their unconditional love and trust. Nothing has changed. Your daughter still loves you, and always will. Your partner is your best friend, and always will be, no matter what you decide to do with your future. Know that the sun will rise tomorrow, and you have nothing to fear."

Aolani then moved her hands slowly over Danny's body, four inches above his physical self, passing through his distinctly visible aura, and gravitating to the areas of his body, and soul, most in need of healing – first, his belly, then his chest, and finally his heart, the center of his emotional health.

Danny felt a spiraling heat and tingling sensation encompass his body, as the healing energy entered his being through Aolani's hands.

"From my heart chakra, to your heart chakra, may the Kahuna healing circle ease your physical pain, and take away your fears and heartache."Danny felt it immediately – a direct and powerful change in his body and in his soul. He felt healing energy working on his tired, ravaged body to make it whole, and he felt spiritual and emotional strength return to his soul. The elephant stood up and walked away from Danny, leaving him finally feeling light and carefree, himself once again.

H50H50H50


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, all things do come to an end. I hope this epilogue does justice to my crazy idea of Steve and Danny taking the bull by the horn. I might have run away with it a bit, but so be it! May the cattle prod be with you (if not, just let me know, I know where one is stored and fully charged!)

EPILOGUE

One month later, Steve's backyard, Oahu

The Ohana was all together for a birthday celebration. Grace was turning 13, and Danny was in need of his Ohana to help ease him into the teen years. Because everyone knew it was going to be harder on him than anything that had gone before in the raising of his daughter – boyfriends, cars, high school antics – yeah, he was going to need all the help he could get.

Today's barbecue was the first time everyone had been all together since before Mau'i. Grover was grilling hamburgers, but Kamekona had a separate grill set up for shrimp and Ono, Danny's favorite type of fish, since he had been a little shy of red meat lately.

A new addition to the Ohana had arrived from Mau'i to join the group. Dr. Pilipo Nagahara had been specially invited, by Commander McGarrett, to make the island hop in order to meet his previously unknown cousin, Dr. Max Bergman. Kono had researched Max's family tree on his deceased biological mother's side, and found that Max and Pilipo were indeed related – third cousins! At the moment, they were ensconced in Steve's study looking at family pictures that Pilipo had brought with him, and having a very fast conversation about their likes, dislikes, and Keanu Reeves movies.

Grover's family was also present, along with Kono and Adam, Chin and Leilani, Jerry and Charlie Fong, and of course, Amber. Needless to say, Grace was in her glory.

Steve, the necks of two Longboards deftly held in place between the fingers of one hand, and a travel magazine in the other, walked down to the water's edge where Danny was sitting in one of the two weathered Adirondack chairs, squishing his toes in the wet sand.

"Hey," Steve said as he handed one of the bottles of beer to his friend.

"Hey, back."

"How you doing?" Steve plopped down in the accompanying chair, looking out over the gentle lapping waves at his own personal corner of paradise.

Danny continued to look at his feet for a few seconds, seemingly pondering how, exactly, he felt. Finally he nodded, "I'm good."

Steve smiled happily, "That's good, real good. Um, so, does that mean you're ready to come back to work? I, uh, kind of miss having you around, you know."

Looking over at Steve to gauge what he was really saying, Danny softly asked, "You do? You, ah, don't think I'd be a hindrance?"

Steve scowled at that comment, not quite sure what Danny was saying, "Why would I think that?"

Quickly looking down at his beer, Danny sighed, deciding it was time to get it out in the open. "I've had my doubts about my ability to come back to Five-0. After killing Reyes like I did, and everything else that's gone down since then, I didn't know if … uh… you could still trust me to be your partner, or if I could trust myself to be the kind of cop I want to be."

"Well, that's just stupid. Of course I want you back, and I have never doubted you, Daniel. You're as good a cop and partner now as you have ever been."

Danny smiled, gave a little nod, and held out his bottle to clink against Steve's.

Steve raised his beer as well, but stopped before reaching Danny's.

"There's something I've got to say to you, too, Danny. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I had closed you out after my final encounter with Wo Fat. I never told you everything that happened that day, everything that was said between us before I shot him. I've held a lot in, and it closed me off from the people I care about more than anything else in this world. Today's not the day to go into it, but soon, I promise, man, we'll talk."

Both men gazed off over the ocean, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Steve spoke again, his voice filled with regret, "I know that my preoccupation with my demons kept me from being on top of my game on Mau'i. I didn't take all the precautions I have normally taken with each new case – but, I mean, who would have thought that a sick cow could end up being a drug smuggling mule! I'm sorry, Danny, about what happened, and I really don't know what I would have done if you hadn't made it."

Danny shook his head, looked at his hands, and turned water-filled eyes towards his best friend. Putting his arm on Steve's shoulder, Danny inhaled raggedly, "Well, I did make it, partner. Apology accepted, and I don't want to hear any more about it. This is at least the second time I've had to accept your apology. I'll be at the office Monday morning."

The friends sat in companionable silence for a heartbeat or two.

"When's Aikau's trial? I'd like to go and give him my support, maybe testify in his behalf."

"We'll go together, Danny."

Danny noticed the magazine lying in Steve's lap. Looking at the name of the magazine, "Not Your Average Vacation," Danny smirked, "And where might you be planning to go for an 'adventurous' vacation, Super SEAL?"

"Well, since you've had some experience at it, I thought we could go to Pamplona, Spain!"

Danny looked at Steve as if he was a stark raving lunatic, "You're kidding, right? You have GOT to be kidding me! I can't believe…Steven, come back here!"

Nimbly jumping up from his chair, Steve laughed as he ran into the water, easily dodging the beer bottle thrown at his head, "What? Too soon? Not ready to run with the bulls? Hey, now, quit littering on my beach!"

He was sitting on the sand at Steve's private ocean front. Grace was happily splashing in the water, using a boogie board to follow the small waves onto the beach. Amber was standing near her, laughing at the water crashing against her knees. A gentle breeze was lifting his hair, messing it up, but for once he didn't care one bit. The surf and turf were grilling, Kono was tossing a salad in the kitchen, and the rest of his friends were sitting around laughing and trying to out do each other in the joke department. The best part, though, was Steve. He had gotten out the new guitar Danny had given him and was shyly playing a tune.

Danny smiled contentedly – his dream had become reality.

H50H50H50H50

At the Harris cattle ranch on Maui, a new barrel of feed was being opened to feed the Harris' bull herd. The Longhorn bull sniffed the feed in the trough, snorted, and walked away, apparently recognizing the odor of rotten meat, and flesh….

FINIS

A few thank you's need to be sent out:

Thank you to the great Wenwalke for her encouragement and wonderful beta work.

Thanks to CentralMom for her undying friendship, to Irene Claire for her inspiration, to Phoebe Miller for her good natured ribbiing.

Special thanks to Avieryfriend for her awesome comments and ShakespeareIsMyMuse for her never-ending questions :) and especially to JazzieG for creating the DWOCD forum and giving the Danny whumpers a place to hone their skills and develop lasting friendships.

Finally, I want to take the opportunity to dedicate this story to The Dogo, my mentor and dear friend who pushed and prodded me into writing this behemoth. She's already asking for a new "paragraph!" What in the world am I going to do with her?

Finally, let me just offer a huge thank you to everyone who has visited, followed, or favorited this story or me - words cannot express how honored I feel to be a part of this fanfiction world.

Until next time - Aloha and Mahalo nui loa!


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